LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 

IN  MEMORIAM 
MRS.  ALFRED  W.  INGALLS 


HANDBOOK 

OF 
MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 


ASSETS  OF 
THE  IDEAL  CITY 

A  brief  description  of  the  more  important 
institutions,  activities  and  undertakings 
which  pertain  to  modern  life  in  cities. 

THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS  NEW  YORK 


HANDBOOK 

OF 

MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 


BY 

CHARLES  M.  FASSETT 

^^ 

SPECIALIST    IN    MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT 

AT    THE     UNIVERSITY    OF    KANSAS 

FORMER    MAYOR    OF    SPOKANE 


NEW  YORK 

THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Cfft 


Copyright,  1922, 
BY  THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  COMPANY 


Printed   in   the    United   States  of  America 


PREFACE 

This  book,  as  is  indicated  by  its  title,  is  intended  to 
be  a  handy  volume  containing  the  essential  facts  of 
the  development  and  structure  of  city  government, 
including  an  outline  of  some  of  the  administrative 
processes  through  which  democracy  functions  in  mu- 
nicipal affairs,  and  some  comment,  criticism  and 
opinion  upon  these  facts  and  processes.  It  does  not 
pretend  to  exhaustive  treatment  of  the  subject,  nor 
to  rival  or  supersede  the  more  voluminous  texts  and 
treatises  which  are  available  to  the  student  who  may 
desire  to  make  an  intensive  study.  The  effort  has 
been  to  condense  the  material  into  a  handy  and  read- 
able volume  without  sacrifice  of  essentials. 

The  book  is  the  product  of  the  author's  long  and 
varied  experience  as  a  public  official,  his  interest  in 
the  growth  of  good  citizenship,  and  his  studies  of  the 
forms  of  government  and  the  details  of  administration 
in  many  of  our  American  cities.  While  primarily  in- 
tended as  a  text-book  for  use  in  schools  and  colleges, 
it  is  hoped  that  it  will  be  found  useful  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  that  large  and  rapidly-growing  element  of  the 
American  people,  the  men  and  women  who  are  now 
taking  a  greater  interest  than  ever  before  in  their  local 
government ;  who  are  ready  to  consider  the  duties  and 


vi  PREFACE 

obligations  of  citizenship  as  well  as  its  rights  and 
privileges. 

Millions  of  American  women  have  recently  acquired 
the  political  equality  which  they  have  long  sought,  and 
to  these  new  citizens,  ready  and  anxious  to  perform 
the  new  duties  with  intelligence  and  effectiveness,  this 
volume  is  particularly  dedicated.  It  will  be  found  as 
well  adapted  to  systematic  study  by  citizens'  organiza- 
tions as  to  individual  reading. 

In  outlining  and  classifying  the  various  forms  of 
municipal  government  now  in  use  in  American  cities, 
it  was  at  first  thought  desirable  to  name  one  or  more 
cities  which  had  adopted  each  form,  but  this  idea  was 
abandoned  when  it  was  realized  that  our  cities  are 
rapidly  changing  their  charters  to  meet  the  newer  con- 
ception of  better  city  government.  Indeed,  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  lately  a  type  of  Responsible-Executive  form, 
changed  its  organization  to  City-Manager  form  be- 
tween the  dates  of  writing  and  of  printing  this  book. 

The  author  desires  to  acknowledge  his  indebtedness 
to  the  standard  texts,  to  friends  who  have  read  and 
criticised  portions  of  the  manuscript,  and  particularly 
to  Mr.  C.  G.  Hoag,  Secretary-Treasurer  of  the  Pro- 
portional Representation  League,  who  has  furnished 
the  section  on  proportional  representation. 

C.  M.  F. 

January  6,  1922 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I  ORIGIN  OF  CITIES i 

Definitions — Historical — The  Ancient  City 
—The  Medieval  City — The   Modern  City — 
German     Cities — English     Cities — American 
Cities. 

II  FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT 22 

The  Borough — The  Town  Meeting — The 
Federal  Type — The  Mayor — Council  Type — 
The  Responsible  Executive  Type — Commis- 
sion Form — City  Manager  Form — The  Influ- 
ence of  Form  in  City  Government. 

III  MUNICIPAL  CHARTERS  AND  HOME  RULE  .      .       48 

The  Model  Charter — Constitutional  Provi- 
sions— Charter  Provisions. 

IV  ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS 65 

Nominations — The  Primary  Election — Pref- 
erential System  of  Voting — Proportional  Rep- 
resentation— Getting  Out  the  Vote — The  Re- 
call of  Elected  Officials — Appointed  Officials 
and  Employees — The  Merit  System — Admin- 
istrative Boards  and  Commissions. 

V  DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 91 

The  Mayor — The  Auditor — The  Treasurer 
—The      Aldermen — Departmental      Heads — 
The  City  Engineer — The  City  Chemist — The 
Purchasing  Agent — Utility  Managers, 
vii 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTKK  rA(,p. 

VI  THE  COUNCIL  AND  LEGISLATION    ....     115 

Council  Meetings — The  City  Ordinances — 
The  Referendum — The  Initiative. 

VII  ADMINISTRATION 127 

Schools — Streets — Sewers — The  Police  De- 
partment— The  Fire  Department — The  Health 
Department — Markets — Police  Courts — Rec- 
reational Activities — Charities — Employment 
Agencies — Public  Utilities — Public  Ownership 
of  Utilities — Public  Utility  Franchises — Mu- 
nicipal Water  Works — Gas  Works — Electric 
Light  and  Power — Telephones — Street  Trans- 
portation— Utility  Rates. 

VIII  MUNICIPAL  FINANCE 158 

Sources  of  Revenue — Licenses — Franchise 
Revenues — Inspection  Fees — Local  Assess- 
ments— Municipal  Debt — The  Budget. 

IX  OBLIGATIONS  OF  CITIZENSHIP 171 

SELECTED  LIST  OF  BOOKS 177 

INDEX 187 


HANDBOOK  OF 
MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 


CHAPTER  I 

ORIGIN   OF   CITIES 

Definitions. — The  term  "municipality"  in  its 
broader  significance,  covers  "any  subordinate  public 
authority  created  by  the  central  government  and  vested 
with  legal  rights  of  a  corporation,"  l  and  therefore 
applies  to  many  governmental  units  of  modern  times. 
A  port  district,  a  school  district,  or  a  sanitary  district, 
established  by  state  legislative  authority,  is  a  municipal- 
ity. In  this  book  the  words  "municipality"  and  "city" 
will  be  used  as  restricted  in  meaning  to  a  populous  and 
compactly  built  area,  having  an  organized  government 
derived  from  the  state  and  charged  with  the  general 
welfare  of  its  inhabitants. 

Historical. — Cities  existed  before  history  began 
to  be  written.  Ancient  and  medieval  cities  did  not, 
however,  generally  derive  authority  from  a  state  or  a 
sovereign.  On  the  contrary,  they  were  frequently 
independent  of  any  outside  authority,  and  were  self- 

1  John    A.    Fairlie's    Municipal    Administration,    1901,    p.    vi, 
Preface. 


2  ORIGIN  OF  CITIES 

contained  and  self-sufficient  governmental  units.  In 
the  remote  past,  when  our  ancestors  were  wandering 
without  fixed  habitations,  the  desire  for  companionship 
and  the  need  of  protection  from  attack  brought  them 
together  in  groups  and  bands.  The  family  became  the 
tribe  and  the  father  became  the  patriarch.  The  neces- 
sity for  leadership  in  the  settlement  of  tribal  disputes 
and  in  defending  the  little  community  from  outside 
assault  developed  the  beginnings  of  government.  When 
the  necessity  came  for  tilling  the  soil,  or  for  holding 
and  defending  springs  or  other  sources  of  water  sup- 
ply necessary  for  the  flocks  and  herds  which  constituted 
the  wealth  of  that  early  day,  habitations  became  fixed, 
huts  were  grouped  about  the  strategic  locality  and  city 
life  began. 

The  Ancient  City. — The  earliest  cities  of  which 
we  know  anything  definite  were  grouped  about  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  and  in  the  fertile  valleys  of  Mesopo- 
tamia and  Egypt.  Of  their  origin  and  government  we 
have  but  meagre  information.  Their  history,  so  far  as 
we  know  it,  is  a  record  of  what  the  historian  Gibbon 
characterizes  as  the  basis  of  all  history — "the  crimes, 
follies  and  misfortunes  of  mankind."  l  Barbaric  mag- 
nificence, war,  conquest,  pillage,  devastation,  decay, 
follow  each  other  in  swift-recurring  sequence,  until 
with  the  enslavement  of  a  people,  the  abandonment  of 
once  profitable  trade  routes,  or  wanton  destruction, 
there  is  nothing  left  but  a  few  humble  huts  in  the 

*E.    Gibbon,    The   Decline   and   Fall   of   the   Roman   Empire, 
Harpers,  I,  p.  94. 


ORIGIN  OF  CITIES  3 

shadow  of  the  monuments  of  past  greatness,  or  a 
mound  to  direct  the  antiquarian  where  to  dig.  It  is 
difficult  for  us  to  realize  that  the  same  sort  of  people 
as  we,  constituted  the  population  of  these  ancient  cities, 
with  the  same  instincts  for  comfort,  ease  and  safety; 
with  like  activities,  hopes,  fears  and  aspirations ;  living 
their  lives  day  by  day,  unconscious  of  the  great,  slow- 
moving  forces  making  for  civilization  and  progress. 

"The  folk  that  walked  in  Babylon,  they  talked  of  wind  and  rain, 
Of  ladies'  looks,  of  learned  books,  of  merchants'  loss  and  gain, 
How  such-an-one  loved  such-a-maid  who  loved  him  not  again, 
(For  maids  were  fair  in  Babylon,  Babylon,  Babylon) , 
Also  the  poor  in  Babylon  of  hunger  did  complain." 1 

The  governments  of  these  ancient  cities  were  as 
diverse  and  changeable  as  those  of  our  time.  There 
were  monarchies,  absolute  and  limited;  aristocracies,  of 
birth,  wealth  and  intellect ;  democracies,  always  limited 
by  a  very  restricted  franchise,  and  military  despotisms 
and  suzerainties.  Whatever  the  form,  the  government 
was  that  of  a  few,  for  human  slavery  was  universal  and 
city  populations  were  made  up  largely  of  serfs  and 
slaves.  Occasionally  there  was  an  era  of  good  govern- 
ment, the  gift  of  a  kindly  or  intelligent  monarch.  Of 
the  reign  of  the  Antonines  in  Rome,  Gibbon  tells  us 
that  in  no  other  period  of  history  was  the  welfare  of  a 
people  so  completely  the  object  of  government.  Even 
today  there  are  those  who  hold  that  the  ideal  govern- 
ment is  an  absolute  monarchy  "with  an  angel  on  the 
throne." 

We  may  assume  that  the  early  cities  came  into  ex- 

*Lucy  Lyttleton,  Lyrical  Poems,  "Quod  Semper,"  Thos.  B. 
Mosher,  1912. 


4  ORIGIN  OF  CITIES 

istence  for  three  principal  causes :  first,  for  the  protec- 
tion of  life  and  property  through  mutual  action  or  by 
a  powerful  patron;  second,  for  the  better  carrying  on 
of  exchange,  commerce  and  transportation;  third,  as 
the  seat  of  government  or  religious  establishment.  An- 
cient cities  did  not  develop  about  a  water  power  as  have 
many  of  the  industrial  centers  of  today.  Industry  was 
individual,  and  urban  communities  with  their  near-by 
fields  and  flocks,  were  self-supporting  and  self-sufficient 
for  the  simple  needs  of  the  people.  Commerce  began 
with  the  development  of  a  wealthy  and  leisure  class 
which  demanded  articles  of  luxury  and  show,  in  order 
to  distinguish  its  members  from  the  humble  masses. 
Caravans  from  India  and  Arabia  brought  rich  fabrics, 
carpets,  jewelry,  spices  and  perfumes  through  Syria  to 
the  sea,  where  they  were  transferred  to  boats  which 
carried  them  to  the  luxurious  homes  of  Athens,  Rome, 
Carthage  and  other  Mediterranean  cities.  Antioch 
grew  and  thrived  by  this  traffic  until,  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  navigators  grew  bold  enough  to  brave  the  tem- 
pests of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  open  the  direct 
sea  route  to  the  Indies. 

The  Medieval  City. — The  period  known  in  his- 
tory as  the  Middle  Ages  extended  approximately  from 
the  invasion  of  Italy  by  the  Huns  to  the  discovery  of 
the  new  world,  that  is,  from  the  middle  of  the  fifth  to 
the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Although  this  thou- 
sand years  is  called  the  "Dark  Ages,"  although  it  wit- 
nessed the  complete  overthrow  of  the  civilization  of 
Greece  and  Rome,  we  shall  find  that  it  was  a  time  of 


ORIGIN  OF  CITIES  5 

growth  and  development  of  civic  life,  and  that  there 
emerged  from  its  havoc  and  destruction  a  new  concept 
of  morals  and  a  dawning  consciousness  of  the  inherent 
rights  of  man.  The  passion  of  the  Hun  invader  was 
to  destroy  and  obliterate  that  which  he  did  not  under- 
stand or  desire;  and  we  lament  the  destruction  of  the 
great  libraries,  the  magnificent  architecture  and  the 
splendid  examples  of  Greek  and  Roman  art.  But  this 
art  and  learning  was  the  result  of  the  growth  of  a 
wealth  and  leisure  which,  without  the  guiding  star  of 
religion  and  morality,  produced  also  an  era  of  licen- 
tiousness and  debauchery  the  like  of  which  the  world 
had  seldom  seen.  Civilization  doubtless  needed  a  fresh 
start,  a  new  beginning,  a  possibility  of  growth  upon  a 
safer  and  more  stable  foundation.  Hence  the  Dark 
Ages. 

We  must  not  expect  to  find  a  rapid  growth  of  civic 
consciousness.  Indeed,  the  conditions  of  city  life  at  the 
close  of  the  fifteenth  century  were  disheartening  and 
deplorable  as  compared  with  our  own  times,  and  en- 
couraging only  by  comparison  with  what  had  gone  be- 
fore. A  few  reformers  with  prophetic  vision,  a  few 
men  ready  to  stake  their  lives  for  principle,  "Some  vil- 
lage Hampden  who  with  dauntless  breast  the  petty 
tyrant  of  his  fields  withstood,"  *  a  handful  of  crusad- 
ers devoted  to  unselfish  and  idealistic  quest,  raise  the 
standard  of  human  life,  ever  so  little,  but  permanently 
and  unmistakably.  The  spark  of  a  slowly  spreading 
religion  for  which  its  converts  were  ready  to  suffer  and 

1  Gray,  Elegy  in  a  Country  Churchyard. 


6  ORIGIN  OF  CITIES 

to  die  was  kept  alive  and  its  influence  slowly  expanded 
in  spite  of  persecution,  in  spite  of  the  excesses  of  its 
z^lots  and  the  abuses  of  its  temporal  power. 

'The  outstanding  characteristic  of  government  in  the 
Afiddle  Ages  was  the  growth  of  feudalism.  The  Huns 
ahd  Vandals  could  destroy  but  they  could  not  organize 
tl^»  captured  territory,  and  as  the  devastated  regions 
sV>wly  came  back  to  life  and  the  few  scattered  inhabi- 
tants who  had  escaped  the  cataclysm  huddled  fearfully 
together  and  began  to  till  their  little  plots,  there  arose 
leaders  whose  skill,  prowess  and  intelligence  enabled 
them  to  dominate  their  localities,  and  to  build  up  petty 
kingdoms  over  which  they  could  reign  with  practically 
undisputed  sway.  A  fortress  was  built  upon  a  strategic 
site,  surrounding  a  castle  to  house  the  feudal  lord,  his 
family,  and  his  servants  and  retainers.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  the  medieval  city.  Its  inhabitants  were 
serfs,  dependent  for  their  protection  from  robber  bands 
upon  their  lord,  and  compelled  to  render  to  him  their 
armed  assistance  in  war,  and  their  labor  and  any  of  its 
fruits  he  might  demand,  in  peace. 

The  lord  may  have  professed  allegiance  to  some  king 
or  emperor,  but  distances  were  great,  roads  often  im- 
passable, the  power  of  kings  weak  and  dependent  upon 
the  support  of  their  lords,  and  dangers  were  local  and 
immediate.  Attack  from  rival  lords  or  roving  outlaws 
might  come  without  warning.  There  was  no  law  but 
force  and  no  restraint  but  fear,  either  for  the  lord  or 
for  his  serfs.  There  was  no  money,  or  at  best  a  scanty 


and  uncertain  currency,  and  commerce  was  limited  to 
exchanges  in  kind. 

As  population  increased  in  these  feudal  towns,  and 
as  industry  and  commerce  began  to  develop,  feudal 
exactions  became  more  and  more  intolerable.  A  de- 
veloped industry  might  be  ruined  by  calling  its  work- 
men to  arms.  The  lord  claimed  absolute  right  over  all 
persons  and  property  and  could  throw  a  citizen  into 
prison,  ruin  him  with  fines,  impose  upon  him  or  his 
family  some  hateful  indignity,  or  even  put  him  to  death. 
The  townspeople  began  to  find  deliverance  from  these 
tyrannies  by  purchase,  by  the  wholesale  bribery  of  the 
agents  of  the  king  or  the  local  tyrant,  and  by  such  nego- 
tiations as  could  be  made  when  their  lord  needed  some- 
thing which  could  be  obtained  only  through  their  co- 
operation. Not  only  did  the  people  thus  obtain  certain 
concessions  and  abatements  from  their  feudal  masters, 
but  the  lords  themselves,  by  uniting  and  trading,  forced 
like  concessions  from  their  kings.  The  rights  or  con- 
cessions thus  obtained  were  jealously  guarded  and  en- 
forced with  all  the  power  of  a  growing  independence. 
It  is  notable  that  in  England,  where  the  cities  had  made 
the  most  progress,  the  Great  Charter  obtained  from 
King  John  in  the  thirteenth  century,  provided  in  one 
of  its  sections  that  the  citizens  of  London  should 
retain  "all  their  ancient  liberties  and  free  customs."  * 
thus  showing  that  rights  once  obtained  were  often 
ruthlessly  withdrawn  or  infringed. 

The  growth  of  the  medieval  cities  was  induced  by 

1  Magna  Charta,  Chapter  XIII. 


8  ORIGIN  OF  CITIES 

commerce  and  by  the  development  of  money  as  a 
medium  of  exchange  and  an  evidence  of  wealth. 
Wealth  needed  protection  and  a  stable  money.  It 
brought  leisure,  and  leisure  stimulated  commerce  by  its 
demand  for  luxury  and  led  to  study  and  intellectual 
growth.  Law  followed  priestcraft  as  a  favored  calling. 
Among  the  new  liberties  many  cities  had  the  privilege 
of  electing  their  own  officials,  collecting  their  tribute 
or  taxes  and  rendering  them  in  bulk  to  the  king  rather 
than  having  them  collected  in  detail  by  the  king's 
officers.  By  a  century  or  more  of  persistent  effort 
the  cities  gradually  freed  themselves  of  the  feudal 
oppressions  to  such  an  extent  that  they  became  more 
independent  of  national  governments  in  the  fifteenth 
century  than  they  are  today.  English  cities,  as  the  Mid- 
dle Ages  drew  to  a  close,  "defended  their  own  territory, 
built  and  maintained  their  own  walls  and  towers,  armed 
their  own  soldiers,  *  *  *  elected  their  own  rulers, 
*  *  *  drew  up  formal  constitutions  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  community,  and  as  time  brought  new  prob- 
lems and  responsibilities,  made  and  remade  and  revised 
again  their  ordinances."  1 

The  Modern  City. — In  this  twentieth  century 
there  are  oriental  cities  which  have  not  been  touched  by 
the  magic  wand  of  civilization;  cities  of  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  inhabitants  without  a  bathtub  or  a  sewer, 
where  taxes  are  "farmed,"  banking  and  exchange 
in  their  modern  sense  are  unknown,  where  starvation 

1  Mrs.  J.  R.  Green,  Town  Life  in  the  Fifteenth  Century,  1907, 
p.  2. 


ORIGIN  OF  CITIES  9 

always  threatens  and  pestilence  perennially  reaps  its 
grim  harvest.  Even  in  Europe  a  recently  returned 
traveler  reports  that  in  Spain  there  are  five  thousand 
towns  and  villages  without  roads,  and  approachable 
only  by  trails.  With  such  instances  and  conditions  we 
have  no  concern  as  students  of  modern  municipal  life. 
Cities,  institutions  and  opinions  may  be  archaic  without 
being  ancient.  Modernity  is  not  always  a  question  of 
dates. 

We  are  interested  in  the  development  of  the  cities 
of  western  Europe,  particularly  those  of  England  and 
Germany,  for  we  find  in  them  the  working  models  of 
some  institutions  and  practices  which  have  been  made 
part  of  our  most  recent  American  progress  in  city  ad- 
ministration. Near  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages  France 
and  England  had  national  governments  of  considerable 
power  and  authority,  but  that  of  Germany  was  weak 
and  ineffective,  and  afforded  little  protection  to  the 
young  cities  developing  on  trade  routes  in  the  interior 
and  along  the  shores  of  the  Baltic.  Practically  self- 
governing  in  themselves,  their  power  and  influence  de- 
creased with  distance  from  their  walls.  Their  hinter- 
land was  infested  with  robbers  and  their  coasts  ter- 
rorized by  sea  robbers  and  pirates.  The  growing  com- 
merce with  each  other  and  between  them  and  the 
marts  of  England,  Holland  and  Scandinavia  was  con- 
stantly threatened  and  frequently  raided,  and  this  con- 
dition brought  about  a  league  of  German  cities,  princi- 
pally for  the  protection  of  trade  but  destined  to  great 
political  influence  and  to  continue  until  stronger  central 


10  ORIGIN  OF  CITIES 

governments  were  able  to  afford  them  more  adequate 
protection. 

German  Cities. — The  German  city  was  thus  the 
predecessor  of  the  state  and  not  its  creature  as  in  Amer- 
ica, and  it  has  retained,  in  the  growing  control  of  cen- 
tralized government,  a  considerable  measure  of  its 
former  power  and  independence.  This  power  was  sub- 
merged during  the  period  of  absolute  national  sover- 
eignty but  was  again  measurably  restored  in  the  early 
nineteenth  century.  Many  variations  in  the  form  of 
city  government  exist  in  Germany,  as  elsewhere,  but 
for  our  study  the  structure  and  activities  of  the  Prus- 
sian city  in  the  period  immediately  preceding  the  World 
War  of  1914-1918  will  suffice  for  our  comparisons. 
Germany  is  now  a  republic,  and  this  fundamental 
change  in  national  government  may  be  productive  of 
some  changes  in  city  government. 

The  Prussian  city  government  is  flexible  and  adapta- 
ble because  there  is  nowhere  a  specific  and  binding 
statement  of  its  powers.  Local  authorities  are  charged 
with  the  general  administration  of  communal  affairs, 
and  have  therefore  been  ready  to  meet  such  new  respon- 
sibilities as  have  come  from  the  enormous  growth  of 
population  and  the  increase  in  municipal  functions  in 
recent  years.  They  may  raise  money  by  such  methods 
of  taxation  as  they  can  endorse  or  invent;  they  are 
custodians  of  the  city's  property  and  may  acquire  and 
hold,  or  dispose  of,  such  property  as  they  see  fit ;  they 
may  buy  or  sell  any  sort  of  merchandise  when  the  traffic 
is  of  benefit  to  their  people;  they  can,  in  fact,  do  every- 


ORIGIN  OF  CITIES  11 

thing  that  the  good  government  of  the  city  may  seem  to 
require.  Anything  that  promises  to  promote  the  public 
welfare  the  Prussian  city  may  claim  as  its  right,  unless 
the  thing  is  specifically  forbidden  by  imperial  law,  and 
such  restrictions  are  not  common.  The  state  controls 
education  and  the  police  system,  but  the  administration 
of  the  latter  is  sometimes  delegated  to  local  authorities 
under  supervision  from  the  central  government.  In 
some  matters  of  taxation,  communication,  public  health, 
commerce,  utilities  of  country-wide  scope,  and  railways, 
the  state  retains  control  of  wider  aspects,  leaving  local 
relationships  to  be  determined  by  local  authorities. 

The  government  of  Prussian  cities  is  vested  in  the 
town  council,  the  executive,  usually  called  "Burgo- 
master," and  an  appointive  administrative  board.  The 
council  is  elected  for  six-year  terms,  one-third  retiring 
every  two  years.  City  councils  are  large  bodies,  serving 
without  salary  and  elected  under  a  property  qualifica- 
tion whereby  each  one-third  of  their  members  is  elected 
by  a  group  of  citizens  which  pays  one-third  of  the  taxes. 
Thus  a  few  men  of  wealth  elect  one-third,  a  larger 
number  of  the  well-to-do  elect  another  third,  and  the 
great  bulk  of  more  humble  citizens  the  remainder.  The 
city  council  is  therefore  always  controlled  by  a  small 
minority  of  the  more  wealthy  citizens.  In  spite  of  this 
undemocratic  method  of  selection,  the  position  is  hon- 
orable and  much  sought  after,  and  the  city  council  so 
constituted  usually  administers  the  government  with 
unselfishness,  little  class  legislation  and  a  high  ideal  of 
public  service. 


12  ORIGIN  OF  CITIES 

The  burgomaster  is  elected  by  the  council  from  any 
part  of  the  country,  is  paid  a  good  salary,  and  is  not 
only  the  ceremonial  head  of  the  city  but  its  general 
executive  official,  with  authoritative  supervision  over 
all  its  activities.  He  is  elected  for  a  twelve-year  term, 
and  men  of  ability  are  often  re-elected.  His  functions 
correspond  roughly  to  those  of  an  American  mayor 
and  city  manager  combined.  In  Germany  able  men 
may  choose  city  administration  as  a  career,  may  spend 
years  in  preparation  for  the  work,  are  often  promoted 
from  a  smaller  to  a  larger  city,  and  are  given  a  pension 
on  retirement.  The  administrative  board  in  every 
Prussian  city  is  a  training  school  for  burgomasters. 

This  board,  called  the  "Magistral,"  is  a  body  of  ex- 
perts who  make  a  profession  of  city  administration, 
chosen  by  the  council  from  men  who  have  shown  ability 
in  the  council  or  in  other  public  service',  or  who  have 
been  trained  for  the  work.  Its  size  depends  upon  the 
size  and  need  of  the  city.  Most  of  its  members  are  sala- 
ried, are  chosen  for  some  definite  city  service  such  as 
law,  accounting,  water  supply,  sanitation,  housing,  etc., 
and  are  comparable  to  heads  of  departments  in  an 
American  city ;  but  it  functions  also  as  a  body,  and  may 
sometimes  over-ride  the  decisions  of  the  burgomaster, 
who  is  its  chairman.  Its  work  is  purely  administrative. 

Aside  from  the  method  of  election  of  the  representa- 
tive council,  which  is  repugnant  to  American  principles, 
the  government  of  German  cities  furnishes  an  example 
of  honesty,  intelligence,  efficiency  and  care  for  the 


ORIGIN  OF  CITIES  13 

esthetic  as  well  as  the  material  needs  of  their  people 
which  our  cities  may  well  study  and  try  to  emulate. 

English  Cities. — The  history  of  the  English  city 
of  modern  times  has  been  greatly  influenced  by  the 
existence  of  a  strong  and  fairly  stable  national  govern- 
ment. Before  the  passage  of  the  Municipal  Corpora- 
tions Act  of  1835,  cities  were  the  chief  battle-grounds 
of  English  politics  and  suffered  from  all  the  abuses  to 
which  those  American  cities  which  have  not  thrown 
off  the  yoke  of  political  party  domination  in  purely 
local  affairs  are  still  subject.  English  cities  were  nearly 
a  century  ahead  of  American  cities  in  the  realization 
of  the  evils  of  partizan  national  politics  in  city  life, 
and  they  accomplished  in  1835,  by  an  act  which  fol- 
lowed a  searching  parliamentary  investigation  and 
which  applied  to  every  large  city  in  the  United  King- 
dom except  London,  the  reform  which  is  now  taking 
place  in  America,  but  slowly,  and  one  city  at  a  time, 
with  much  difficulty  and  opposition.  "Prior  to  1835," 
says  Eaton,  writing  in  1899,  "the  governments  of 
English  cities  had  generally  become  as  partizan,  corrupt 
and  despotic,  *  *  *  as  such  governments  and  laws 
now  are  in  the  United  States."  * 

The  London  of  the  seventeenth  century  had  much 
the  same  conditions  as  its  neighbors  on  the  continent. 
There  were  no  sewers,  and  such  cleaning,  paving  and 
lighting  of  the  streets  as  was  done,  was  by  the  indi- 
vidual citizen  or  tenant.  Thieves  and  robbers  plied 

aDorman  B.  Eaton,  The  Government  of  Municipalities,  1899, 
p.  310. 


14  ORIGIN  OF  CITIES 

their  trades  and  every  able-bodied  inhabitant  was  sup- 
posed to  take  his  turn  in  a  body  of  a  thousand  night 
watchmen,  in  an  effort  to  protect  the  lives  and  property 
of  the  citizens.  Sanitation  was  unknown  and  plagues 
and  epidemics  periodically  decimated  the  population. 

The  English  city  is  the  creature  of  parliament,  as  in 
America  it  is,  in  most  states,  the  creature  of  the  legisla- 
ture, and  hence  has  little  of  the  freedom  of  expression 
of  the  German  city.  Its  status  and  rights  may  be 
changed  by  act  of  parliament,  but  no  fundamental 
change  has  been  made  in  its  government  since  1835 
except  in  extension  of  the  franchise  and  the  abolition 
of  plural  voting  on  a  property  qualification.  It  cannot 
do  anything  which  it  has  not  been  specifically  granted 
the  power  to  do,  and  is  considerably  hampered  by  the 
conservatism  of  English  life.  After  strenuous  legal 
battles  the  city  of  Manchester  was  denied  the  right  to 
carry  parcels  on  its  city-owned  street  railway  cars,  and 
Sheffield,  though  owning  and  operating  its  gas  works, 
was  forbidden  by  the  High  Court  to  sell  gas  stoves! 

The  machinery  of  government  is  simple,  consisting 
of  a  city  council,  three-fourths  of  its  members  elected 
by  popular  vote  and  one- fourth  appointed  by  the  elected 
members.  The  council  sits  as  a  single  body,  elects  the 
mayor,  city  clerk  and  other  officials,  and  administers 
the  government  through  committees  and  subordinate 
officials.  The  city  clerk  is  the  only  official  who  corre- 
sponds in  any  degree  to  the  German  burgomaster,  and 
his  functions  are  more  advisory  than  administrative. 
He  is  sometimes  called  from  outside  the  city  and  is 


15 

usually  a  lawyer  who  is  posted  on  the  details  of  city 
activities.    The  clerk  is  the  only  well-paid  city  official. 

Mayors  of  some  of  the  larger  cities  receive  salaries, 
but  the  social  duties  of  their  office  are  expensive  and 
usually  call  for  a  liberal  use  of  their  private  funds.  As 
the  mayor's  office  is  one  of  great  honor,  men  of  ambi- 
tion and  fortune  are  always  ready  to  seek  it.  On  cere- 
monial occasions  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London  ranks 
next  to  the  King  and  above  the  royal  family.  The  unit 
of  government  in  England  is  the  borough,  the  term 
"city"  being  properly  applied  only  to  a  town  which  is, 
or  has  been,  the  seat  of  a  bishop,  or  which  has  been 
so  designated  by  royal  charter.  The  city  of  London 
is  a  square  mile  of  area  in  the  greater  London,  which, 
politically,  is  composed  of  two  "cities,"  London  and 
Westminster,  and  twenty-seven  boroughs. 

American  Cities. — The  American  city  is  essen- 
tially a  growth  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  1790 
only  three  per  cent  of  our  population  lived  in  cities; 
now  more  than  half  of  our  people  are  city  dwellers. 
There  were  then  but  four  cities  of  over  10,000  popula- 
tion :  Philadelphia  with  42,000 ;  New  York  with  33,000 ; 
Boston  with  18,000;  and  Baltimore  with  13,000;  their 
combined  population  of  106,000  being  exceeded  today 
(census  of  1920)  by  sixty-four  individual  cities.  Two 
hundred  and  seventy- four  American  cities  have  now 
more  than  25,000  population  each. 

City  government  in  America  started  with  the  incor- 
poration of  New  York  as  a  borough  in  1653.  It 
changed  to  an  English  municipal  corporation  in  1664 


16  ORIGIN  OF  CITIES 

and  received  its  first  charter  as  a  city  in  1686.  To  fol- 
low New  York  through  its  varying  experiences  and 
experiments  in  city  government  would  take  a  bulky 
volume;  we  must  be  satisfied  with  the  bare  statement 
made  recently  in  the  New  York  Times,  that  the  city 
charter  "has  been  revised  more  than  one  thousand 
times  since  its  adoption  in  1896,"  *  and  with  a  glance 
at  the  first  organization  under  the  first  charter  of  1686. 

It  had  a  council  elected  by  the  people,  with  a  mayor 
and  a  sheriff  appointed  by  the  colonial  governor.  It 
was  made  a  county  at  this  time,  but  county  and  city 
government  were  not  merged,  and  the  present  greater 
city  now  contains  five  counties,  with  many  expensive 
and  cumbersome  duplications  of  offices  and  functions. 
The  original  form  of  1686  lasted  135  years  (thirty-two 
years  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States),  with  the  exception  of  the  seven  years 
during  which  the  city,  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  was 
held  by  the  British  under  martial  law.  Philadelphia 
became  a  city  by  incorporation  in  1701. 

In  the  early  development  of  city  government  the 
executives  were  invariably  appointed,  and  usually  by  the 
governor  of  the  colony  or  state.  The  first  mayors  to 
be  elected  by  the  people  were  those  of  Philadelphia  in 
1826,  Baltimore  in  1833,  and  New  York  in  1834. 
After  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution  in  1789, 
the  feeling  against  England  was  strong,  and  influenced 
not  only  government  but  usage  in  common  and  some- 
times trivial  things.  The  rule  of  the  road,  which  in  Eng- 
*New  York  Times,  April  17,  1921. 


ORIGIN  OF  CITIES  17 

land  was  to  turn  out  to  the  left,  was  in  America  changed 
to  the  right,  but  the  driver's  seat  was  still  retained  on 
the  right-hand  side  of  the  vehicle,  and  so  remained  until 
the  introduction  of  the  automobile,  when  common  sense 
brought  about  the  change  of  the  driver  to  the  left  side 
as  contributing  to  greater  safety.  This  feeling  influ- 
enced the  young  cities  to  follow  the  organization  plan 
of  the  federal  government  as  against  that  of  the  Eng- 
lish borough,  and  in  a  number  of  the  older  cities  this 
federal  form,  with  its  two  houses  and  large  member- 
ship of  city  councils,  has  persisted  to  the  present  day. 
But  in  New  England  there  had  already  grown  up  the 
system  of  town  meeting  government,  and  it  has  en- 
dured in  spite  of  all  innovations,  not  only  for  rural 
communities  but  for  some  cities  as  well. 

The  outstanding  characteristic  of  city  government 
in  the  United  States  today  is  its  diversity.  The  city 
is  the  creature  of  the  state,  its  machinery  is  determined 
to  a  considerable  extent  by  constitutional  provisions, 
and  no  two  state  constitutions  are  exactly  alike.  In 
different  states  city  charters  may  be  made  directly  by 
legislative  act,  may  be  selected  by  the  city  from  a  variety 
of  fixed  forms,  may  be  imposed  upon  the  city  when  it 
reaches  a  certain  size,  or,  under  so-called  "home-rule" 
provisions  in  several  states,  may  be  formed  by  a  board 
or  commission  of  citizens  elected  by  the  people  of  the 
city  for  that  purpose,  and  thereafter  adopted  by  a  vote 
of  the  people.  A  like  diversity  exists  in  the  means  of 
amending  city  charters,  but  the  greatest  cause  of  dif- 
ference is  in  the  continuing  supremacy  of  state  laws 


18  ORIGIN  OF  CITIES 

over  city  charters  and  ordinances,  thus  allowing  every 
recurring  session  of  the  state  legislature  to  alter  the 
conditions  and  restrict  the  self-expression  of  city  gov- 
ernment. 

The  only  states  that  now  give  their  cities  real 
"home  rule"  are  Colorado  and  Oregon.  Colorado  has 
a  constitutional  provision  enabling  its  cities  of  more 
than  two  thousand  population  to  frame  their  own  char- 
ters and  make  their  own  laws  covering  "all  local  and 
municipal  matters,"  and  further  providing  that  "such 
charters  and  ordinances  made  in  pursuance  thereto  in 
such  matters  shall  supersede,  within  the  territorial  and 
other  jurisdiction  or  town,  any  law  of  the  state  in 
conflict  therewith."  Oregon  allows  its  cities  to  govern 
themselves,  subject  only  to  the  "constitution  and  crimi- 
nal laws"  of  the  state.  Some  constitutions  prohibit 
special  laws  for  individual  cities,  but  this  prohibition 
is  readily  overcome  by  classifying  cities  according  to 
population,  within  such  limits  as  will  include  each  im- 
portant city  in  a  class  by  itself,  and  then  making  the 
law  "general"  by  applying  it,  not  to  the  city  by  name, 
but  to  "all  cities  of  the  first  [or  other]  class."  It  will 
be  seen  that  by  reason  of  this  diversity  American  city 
governments  are  not  readily  classified  as  to  type,  and 
that  any  attempt  to  do  so  must  be  along  very  general 
lines  and  subject  to  many  exceptions. 

This  brief  historical  review  of  the  development  of 
American  cities  would  be  incomplete  without  some 
reference  to  the  causes  of  the  movement  for  better  city 
government  which  characterizes  the  last  quarter-cen- 


ORIGIN  OF  CITIES  19 

tury.  Our  forefathers'  love  of  freedom,  intensified 
by  their  hatred  of  the  tyranny  which  forced  them  to 
emigrate,  found  expression  in  the  simple  and  demo- 
cratic form  of  local  self-government,  the  New  England 
town  meeting.  But  this  form  was  inadequate  and 
ceased  to  be  democratic  when  applied  to  the  populous 
and  rapidly  growing  cities  of  the  latter  half  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  The  production  of  gold  in  California 
and  petroleum  in  Pennsylvania,  the  development  of 
natural  resources  and  agriculture,  and  the  remarkable 
growth  of  manufactures  in  New  England,  caused  cities 
to  grow  almost  over  night. 

Wealth  increased,  and  in  the  struggle  for  it  the 
spiritual  ideals  of  our  Puritan  ancestors,  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers,  gave  way  to  selfishness,  greed  and  indifference. 
Men  absorbed  in  money-getting  had  no  time  for  civic 
duty.  Public  business  was  neglected  and  citizenship 
decayed.  Meanwhile,  because  of  extensive  public 
improvements  necessitated  by  rapid  growth,  large  sums 
of  money  were  required  to  carry  on  government,  and 
great  temptations  to  dishonesty  and  corruption  were 
placed  in  the  way  of  weak  and  vicious  public  officials. 
Practically  all  the  governments  of  the  larger  cities 
fell  into  the  hands  of  thieves  and  rascals  at  one  time 
or  another.  Political  control  was  the  prime  necessity 
of  their  calling,  for  it  gave  them  a  free  hand  in  looting 
the  public  treasuries.  Officials  trafficked  with  dishonest 
contractors  and  sold  franchises  of  great  value.  Courts 
and  city  councils  were  debauched,  crime  went  unpun- 


20  ORIGIN  OF  CITIES 

ished  and  vice  flourished  under  corrupt  police  officials 
by  paying  the  price  of  their  shame.  So  strong  did  the 
evil  forces  become  that  their  practices  were  brazenly 
flouted  before  respectable  citizens  with  the  question, 
"What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?" 

Gradually  a  realization  of  this  condition  broke  into 
the  consciousness  of  men  of  good  intention  and  awak- 
ened a  new  spirit  of  devotion  to  public  duty.  Groups 
were  organized  in  many  cities  with  the  object  of  giving 
publicity  to  evil  practices  and  awakening  a  new  interest 
in  public  affairs.  Candidates  for  office  were  scrutinized 
and  their  records  published.  Good  citizens  were  in- 
duced to  run  for  office  and  their  election  was  accom- 
plished. Thieves  were  discovered  and  punished.  Forms 
and  charters  were  studied,  better  administrative  methods 
were  inaugurated,  and  when  Galveston,  in  the  throes 
of  a  terrific  disaster,  evolved  a  new  and  more  efficient 
form  of  city  government,  many  cities  were  ready  to 
follow  her  lead  into  the  new  field  of  civic  improvement. 

Much  still  remains  to  be  done,  but  the  statement  of 
a  generation  ago  that  city  government  in  America 
was  the  "conspicuous  failure"  of  our  democracy,  is  no 
longer  true.1  The  smaller  cities  have  taken  the  lead  in 
reestablishing  standards  of  honesty  and  efficiency  in 
our  public  business,  and  their  influence  is  now  felt 
everywhere.  New  tasks  are  imposed  upon  government 
by  the  new  social,  recreational  and  humanitarian  activi- 
ties which  we  now  ask  it  to  undertake.  We  are  in  the 
1  James  Bryce,  The  American  Commonwealth,  1888. 


ORIGIN  OF  CITIES  21 

midst  of  a  revival  of  civic  consciousness,  which  is  re- 
sulting not  only  in  improvement  of  physical  conditions 
and  business  procedure,  but  is  also  paying  attention  to 
the  ethical  and  spiritual  requirements  of  a  sane  and 
healthful  life. 


CHAPTER  II 

FORMS   OF   GOVERNMENT 

The  Borough. — It  was  quite  natural  that  the 
borough  form  of  municipal  organization,  already  long 
used  and  well  developed  in  England,  should  have  fur- 
nished the  model  organization  for  the  young  cities  of 
the  New  World,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  we  find  a 
few  examples  of  it  still  in  existence  in  New  England. 
The  chief  official  of  the  borough,  called  the  "warden" 
or  the  "mayor,"  was  appointed  by  the  legislative  body, 
called  the  "council"  or  the  "house  of  burgesses."  This 
latter  body  was  composed  of  the  mayor,  recorder,  alder- 
men and  councilmen,  acting  as  a  single  body  and  pos- 
sessing judicial,  legislative  and  executive  functions. 
The  mayor  and  the  aldermen  were  justices  of  the  peace. 
The  aldermen  and  councilmen  were  elected  by  popular 
vote.  The  mayor  was  first  appointed  by  the  governor, 
later  elected  from  among  the  aldermen  by  the  council, 
and  finally  elected  by  the  people.  His  powers  were 
limited  to  presiding  over  meetings  of  the  council  and 
he  had  no  veto  power  and  a  very  restricted  appointing 
power.  In  Philadelphia  he  did  not  even  have  a  vote. 

The  early  American  boroughs — and  some  of  our  cit- 
ies were  so  organized  in  colonial  times — usually  elected 
their  councils  for  one-year  terms,  and  the  mayor  was 

22 


FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT  23 

appointed  for  a  like  term.  But  in  Philadelphia,  Anna- 
polis and  Norfolk  the  government  was  made  a  close 
corporation  and  officials  held  their  positions  for  life, 
the  councils  filling  vacancies  as  they  might  occur.  The 
modern  American  borough  is  distinguishable  from  the 
usual  city  organization  only  by  its  name  and  the  title 
of  its  officials.  The  mayor  or  warden  is  elected  and  his 
powers  and  duties  have  grown  to  considerable  impor- 
tance and  responsibility;  his  judicial  functions  have 
been  gradually  taken  over  by  state  and  county  judici- 
aries, his  legislative  duties  decreased  and  his  responsi- 
bility for  the  administration  of  the  government  height- 
ened. The  borough  is  part  of  a  township,  which  is  in 
turn  part  of  a  county,  and  all  three  organizations  are 
subservient  to  the  authority  of  the  state  legislature.  The 
borough  organization  in  American  towns  and  cities  is 
extinct  in  form  and  practically  so  in  name,  and  is  of 
interest  to  us  only  as  a  step  in  the  progress  of  municipal 
government. 

The  Town  Meeting. — The  town  meeting  is  a 
distinctly  New  England  institution,  an  outgrowth  of 
the  congregational  plan  of  religious  organization. 
It  is  often  spoken  of  as  a  model  of  pure  democracy,  and 
this  is  undoubtedly  true  of  its  application  to  small  rural 
communities  where  all  citizens  take  an  interest  in  com- 
munal affairs  and  the  public  business  has  not  become 
too  complicated  nor  populations  too  great  for  such 
universal  participation.  Towns  receive  their  authority 
from  general  acts  of  the  state  legislatures,  but  for  any 
special  undertaking  they  must  have  special  authority 


24  FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT 

from  the  same  source.  An  instance  of  the  necessity  for 
appealing  to  the  legislature  in  small  matters  is  found 
in  the  circumstance  that  in  1921  the  town  meeting  of 
Webster,  Mass.,  instructed  the  selectmen  to  petition 
the  "General  Court,"  as  the  legislature  is  called  in  that 
state,  "for  authority  to  maintain  a  town  ambulance." 

Regular  town  meetings  are  held  annually  but  may  be 
adjourned  to  a  subsequent  day  or  from  time  to  time, 
and  special  meetings  may  be  called  in  the  interim. 
Before  the  meeting,  in  time  for  proper  advertising,  a 
"warrant"  is  prepared  by  the  selectmen  which  specifies 
the  business  to  be  done.  This  warrant  contains  specific 
proposals  for  public  activities  and  improvements  in 
much  detail,  each  proposal  numbered  and  briefly  de- 
scribed. The  construction  or  extension  of  a  sewer,  the 
building  of  a  bridge  or  a  schoolhouse,  the  opening  or 
improvement  of  a  road,  the  location  of  an  additional 
street  light,  the  repair  of  a  sidewalk  or  a  fence,  con- 
stitute "articles  in  the  warrant,"  and  these  are  approved, 
amended  or  denied  by  vote  of  citizens  present  at  the 
meeting. 

The  meeting  elects  its  presiding  officer,  called  the 
"moderator,"  and  in  addition  to  acting  upon  the  admin- 
istrative proposals  submitted,  levies  the  town  taxes, 
makes  the  appropriations,  elects  by  ballot  the  chief  offi- 
cers to  serve  during  the  coming  year  and  fixes  their 
salaries.  These  officers  usually  consist  of  the  execu- 
tives, three  in  number,  called  "selectmen,"  the  school 
committee,  town  clerk,  assessor,  overseers  of  the  poor, 
road  surveyors,  treasurer,  tax  collector,  tree  warden 


FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT  25 

and  constables.  Candidates  for  these  offices  are  often 
previously  nominated  by  political  parties  in  caucuses, 
and  the  election  is  held  in  the  forenoon  of  the  day  of 
the  town  meeting,  the  notice  of  election  constituting 
the  first  article  of  the  warrant.  Minor  officials  such  as 
road  superintendent,  registrar  of  voters,  fence  viewers, 
pound  keeper,  sealer  of  weights  and  measures,  public 
weigher,  building  inspector,  burial  agent,  dog  officer, 
town  solicitor,  town  physician,  animal  inspector,  spe- 
cial police,  etc.,  are  appointed  by  the  selectmen. 

When  populations  are  small  and  interest  in  public 
matters  is  maintained,  the  town  meeting  makes  a  demo- 
cratic and  efficient  form  of  local  government.  It  affords 
opportunity  for  every  citizen  to  participate  more  di- 
rectly in  the  affairs  of  his  town  than  does  any  other 
form,  not  only  in  casting  his  vote,  but  in  the  delibera- 
tions and  arguments  whereby  the  policy  is  crystallized 
and  determined.  His  citizenship  is  manifestly  more  ef- 
fective than  any  delegated  authority  could  be.  His  func- 
tion in  town  meeting  gives  him  a  direct  voice  in  mat- 
ters of  public  policy  and  an  influential  vote  in  the  selec- 
tion of  the  more  important  officials ;  and  interest  in  the 
public  affairs  on  the  part  of  a  citizen  is  often  in  direct 
relation  to  his  idea  of  the  effectiveness  of  his  action. 

When  population  increases,  however,  and  the  devel- 
opment of  an  urban  community  complicates  the  public 
business,  when  more  frequent  legislation  and  more 
immediate  supervision  of  elective  officials  are  required 
for  good  government,  the  town  meeting  plan  becomes 


26  FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT 

less  responsive  and  more  cumbersome,  and  quickly 
loses  its  essential  democracy. 

Population  may  grow  to  such  an  extent  that  only  a 
small  proportion  of  the  citizens  can  participate  in  the 
town  meeting,  on  account  of  limited  capacity  in  town 
halls.  It  is  estimated  that  with  woman  suffrage  fifty- 
five  per  cent  of  the  inhabitants  of  a  normal  city  are 
potential  voters.  In  a  town  having  a  population  of 
15,000  there  would  be  over  8,000  voters,  and  the  town 
hall  would  not  usually  accommodate  more  than  one- 
tenth  of  that  number.  Even  if  all  who  desired  could 
take  part,  in  such  a  large  assembly  there  could  be  little 
accomplished.  Really  deliberative  action  would  be 
practically  impossible.  Five  people  with  a  fondness 
for  the  sound  of  their  own  voices — and  such  are  com- 
mon in  American  assemblies— could  render  construc- 
tive consideration  of  public  needs  impossible. 

But  as  urban  population  grows,  unless  the  commu- 
nity is  aroused  by  some  unusual  condition  or  circum- 
stance, there  is  less  and  less  interest  shown  by  the  citi- 
zens in  their  public  affairs,  and  fewer  and  fewer  who 
desire  to  take  part  in  town  meeting,  or  who  are  willing 
or  able  to  devote  a  whole  day  (or  sometimes  more)  to 
the  public  business.  The  Town  Clerk  of  a  New  England 
city  of  15,000  population  makes  the  statement  that 
while  the  town  hall  will  seat  eight  hundred  people, 
articles  in  the  warrant  are  decided  in  town  meeting 
by  a  total  vote  seldom  exceeding  two  hundred  in  num- 
ber. This  can  only  mean  that  one  hundred  and  one 
votes  can  determine  the  governmental  policy  and  elect 


FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT  27 

officials  for  8,000  citizens,  and  this  is  certainly  not 
democracy. 

Such  a  condition  lends  itself  readily  to  scheming 
politicians  who  desire  selfish  ends.  A  packed  town 
meeting  would  be  easy  under  such  circumstances,  and 
it  is  a  credit  to  the  fine  integrity  of  the  average  New 
England  citizenship  that  instances  of  such  political 
chicanery  are  unusual. 

In  an  endeavor  to  overcome  this  difficulty  ana  to 
adapt  the  town  meeting  plan,  so  much  admired  and  so 
persistently  adhered  to,  to  larger  populations,  a  few 
New  England  cities  of  considerable  size  have  obtained, 
by  legislative  charter,  a  modified  form  or  "representa- 
tive town  meeting"  under  which  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  citizens,  usually  two  hundred  or  more,  are 
elected  by  the  voters  as  delegates  to  town  meeting,  and 
there  perform  the  functions  which  pertain  to  their 
constituents.  This  form  possesses  the  objectionable 
features  of  a  long  ballot,  a  cumbersome  and  unrespon- 
sive legislative  body  with  infrequent  meetings,  and 
executives  hampered  by  lack  of  authority  and  effective 
supervision.  That  it  produces  a  tolerable  and  economi- 
cal government  in  some  cities  is  remarkable. 

In  a  few  New  England  towns  the  city  manager  idea 
has  been  grafted  into  the  town  meeting  form.  The 
"town  manager"  is  appointed  by  the  annual  town  meet- 
ing or  the  selectmen  and  performs  such  duties  as  they 
may  determine  and  the  state  laws  allow. 

The  Federal  Type. — After  the  adoption  of  the 
Federal  Constitution,  the  legislative  pattern  therein  set 


28  FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT 

became  the  accepted  type  of  city  government  for  most 
of  the  larger  American  cities  and  for  many  of  the 
smaller  ones,  and  some  examples  of  this  plan  of  city 
government  continue  to  the  present  day.  It  is,  however, 
retained  in  but  few  cities  and  is  giving  way  to  more 
modern  structures.  Legislation  for  a  nation  covering 
a  large  area  and  containing  a  great  population  with 
vastly  diverse  sectional  interests;  legislation  which  in- 
volves not  only  internal  affairs  but  which  covers  also 
world-wide  relationships,  may  well  be  surrounded  with 
safeguards  against  hasty  or  ill-considered  action,  safe- 
guards which  local  conditions  do  not  require. 

The  federal  form,  in  the  city  as  in  the  nation,  sepa- 
rates the  three  principal  functions  of  government,  exec- 
utive, legislative  and  judicial,  and  then  again  subdivides 
legislative  authority  into  three  sections,  a  city  council 
divided  into  two  houses  which  must  concur  upon  every 
measure,  and  a  mayor  with  the  veto  power.  Members 
of  both  houses  of  the  city  council  are  usually  elected 
from  wards  or  districts  and  are  likely  to  be  more  inter- 
ested in  the  local  needs  of  their  wards  than  in  the 
welfare  of  the  city  as  a  whole.  If,  as  is  usually  the  case, 
the  appointed  administrative  officials  and  higher  em- 
ployes must  have  their  appointments  confirmed  by  the 
board  of  aldermen,  or  the  upper  house  of  the  city 
council,  the  executive  is  readily  controlled  or  hampered 
and  antagonism  between  the  mayor  and  the  council  is 
easily  developed.  The  mayor  vetoes  councilmanic 
actions,  and  the  council  vetoes  the  mayor's  appoint- 
ments. 


FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT  29 

City  councils  under  the  federal  form  are  usually 
large,  sometimes  numbering  two  hundred  or  even 
more.  The  larger  the  number,  the  less  important  be- 
come the  individuals  and  the  greater  the  likelihood  of 
the  election  of  the  unfit  and  the  dishonest.  This  form, 
retaining  the  usages  and  methods  of  political  parties 
in  city  affairs,  lends  itself  readily  to  the  domination  of 
party  machines,  and  is  a  fertile  field  for  the  operations 
of  the  local  political  boss,  who  exploits  the  govern- 
ment for  his  selfish  ends.  The  citizen  cannot  fix  re- 
sponsibility upon  individuals  whom  he  cannot  reach. 
The  real  government  is  a  party  organization  or  a  local, 
self-appointed  magnate,  who  by  intensive  organization 
extending  to  the  ward  and  the  precinct,  controls  elec- 
tions and  thereby  runs  the  government,  although  not  of- 
ficially a  member  of  it. 

In  the  larger  cities,  where  enormous  budgets  present 
the  greatest  temptations  to  thievery,  and  where  the 
honest  citizens  are  discouraged  by  the  futility  of  their 
efforts  to  influence  their  government,  and  grow  to  neg- 
lect their  civic  duties,  can  be  found  the  most  flagrant 
demonstrations  of  the  evils  of  an  unresponsive  form: 
the  evasion  of  official  responsibility,  the  indifference  of 
"good  citizens,"  and  the  growth  of  subterranean  con- 
trol of  government.  Contracts  and  franchises  form  the 
chief  instruments  of  civic  dishonesty  and  few  of  our 
large  cities  have  been  free  from  instances  of  public 
robbery  through  these  means  within  the  past  twenty-five 
years.  Not  all  have  had  the  federal  form  of  govern- 
ment at  the  time  of  their  undoing,  but  all  have  suffered 


30  FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT 

from  one  or  another  of  its  characteristic  faults  and 
failures. 

Mayor-Council  Type. — Prior  to  the  advent  of  the 
commission  form,  the  most  common  type  of  city  gov- 
ernment in  the  United  States  was  what  we  shall  call 
the  mayor-council  type,  consisting  of  a  mayor  elected 
by  popular  vote  and  a  single-body  council  elected  by 
wards,  in  which  the  chief  administrative  duties  are 
performed  by  the  mayor,  the  council  acting  through  its 
various  committees,  and  sometimes  a  board  of  public 
works  which  is  either  elected,  or  appointed  by  the  mayor 
and  confirmed  by  the  council.  This  is  the  form  of  city 
government  with  which  we  are  most  familiar  and  of 
which  we  have  the  most  examples  at  the  present  time. 

The  ballot  is  long,  as  many  minor  officials  are  elected 
by  popular  vote.  These  usually  include,  in  addition  to 
the  mayor  and  members  of  the  council,  the  city  clerk, 
auditor,  controller,  treasurer,  city  attorney,  city  engi- 
neer, police  judges  and  constables.  Terms  of  office  are 
usually  short,  the  average  length  being  about  two 
years.  One-year  terms  are  common.  Members  of 
school  boards,  library  boards,  park  boards,  port  com- 
missions, etc.,  are  often  elected  at  the  same  time  as 
other  city  officials,  and  national  party  organizations 
usually  have  a  large  hand  in  the  city  elections.  Salaries 
of  mayor  and  councilmen  are  usually  small,  as  it  is 
expected  that  these  officials  will  devote  only  a  portion 
of  their  time  to  the  public  business. 

The  chief  defects  of  this  form  are  the  long  ballot, 
the  short  term,  ward  representation,  and  divided  re- 


FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT  31 

sponsibility  in  administrative  functions.  The  ballot 
usually  contains  the  names  of  many  candidates  with 
whom  the  ordinary  voter  cannot  be  familiar,  and  he 
must  depend  upon  his  party  organization  for  informa- 
tion as  to  their  merits,  or  vote  without  it.  Popular 
interest  centers  in  the  higher  officials,  and  little  atten- 
tion is  likely  to  be  given  to  the  candidates  lower  in  the 
scale.  When  we  recognize  that  city  government  is  a 
real  business,  a  large-scale  collective  undertaking  which 
requires  special  training  and  expert  knowledge  for  its 
successful  operation,  we  shall  see  the  fallacy  of  trying 
to  elect  such  administrative  officials  as  clerk,  treasurer, 
auditor  or  attorney,  and  giving  them  terms  so  short 
that  they  cannot  fairly  get  accustomed  to  their  tasks 
before  their  terms  expire. 

We  have  shown  ourselves  woefully  weak  in  electing 
experts,  or  men  who  should  be  experts  in  these  tech- 
nical positions.  We  elect  men  because  they  are  good 
"vote-getters,"  good  "mixers,"  because  they  have  a 
hearty  hand-shake  and  an  engaging  smile,  and  not  by 
reason  of  their  undoubted  qualification  for  a  special 
job.  The  active  politician  who  takes  the  time  for  an 
intensive  personal  canvass  has  a  great  advantage  over 
the  qualified  man  who  has  no  personal  magnetism  and 
no  incentive  to  seek  office  except  a  desire  to  serve. 

The  short  term  in  city  office  is  a  relic  of  the  idea 
that  office-holding  is  a  perquisite  of  citizenship  and  that 
frequent  rotation  gives  all  citizens  an  opportunity  for 
a  public  job.  Such  a  proposal,  as  being  productive  of 
real  efficiency  in  the  public  business,  is  unthinkable. 


' 


82  FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT 

Most  elected  city  officials  enter  office  with  little  or  no 
knowledge  of  the  duties  they  are  supposed  to  under- 
take or  the  specific  tasks  they  are  expected  to  perform. 
An  honest  man  elected  to  public  office  will  study  his 
job,  but  knowledge  and  experience  do  not  come  instan- 
taneously and  the  short  term  hardly  gives  him  time  to 
understand  his  work,  much  less  to  become  proficient 
in  it.  Good  men  are  debarred  from  seeking  office  by 
short  terms  and  precarious  tenure.  So  long  as  we 
insist  upon  turning  administrative  officials  out  of  office 
in  a  year  or  two,  we  must  be  content  to  make  our  selec- 
tions from  among  the  unsuccessful,  the  chronic  poli- 
ticians and  the  generally  unfit.  Constructive  states- 
manship must  yield  to  the  unproductive  impulse  to 
"get  by"  and  to  "hang  on." 

Ward  representation  invites  sectional  dissension 
and  lends  itself  to  jockeying  for  local  advantage.  A 
city  is  not  so  large  geographically  that  a  member  of 
the  council  should  not  be  able  to  consider  its  needs  as  a 
whole  as  paramount  to  the  advantage  of  any  section  or 
ward.  Yet  if  he  depends  for  his  position  upon  the 
votes  he  can  get  in  his  own  ward,  this  is  likely  to  be 
his  chief  interest.  If  he  supports  measures  for  the 
general  good  of  other  sections  or  the  whole  city,  it  is 
likely  to  be  by  means  of  some  trade  by  which  his  own 
ward  will  be  favored.  If  a  city  councilman  is  to  be 
a  representative  of  any  section  of  the  citizenship,  it 
should  be  of  a  group  of  citizens  having  some  common 
purpose  to  accomplish  and  not  of  a  geographical  sub- 
division of  the  city's  area. 


FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT  33 

Probably  greatest  among  the  objections  to  the  mayor- 
council  type  is  that  of  the  divided  responsibility  it 
creates  in  the  carrying  on  of  the  city's  business.  Let 
us  suppose  that  a  sewer  is  to  be  laid  in  the  second  ward, 
a  public  improvement  that  has  been  long  needed  but 
authority  for  which  has  only  now  been  obtained,  over 
the  protests  of  many  owners  of  vacant  lots  and  rental 
property,  who  do  not  want  to  pay  the  assessment.  The 
city  council  has  passed  the  ordinance  and  the  mayor 
has  not  vetoed  it.  The  city  engineer  has  prepared  the 
plans  and  the  city  attorney  has  drawn  the  ordinance. 
The  city  clerk  is  instructed  to  advertise  for  bids,  which 
are  opened  by  the  city  council  or  the  board  of  public 
works,  and  the  contract  is  awarded. 

The  contractor's  operations  are  under  the  supervision 
of  five  distinct  authorities,  viz. :  the  mayor,  who  has 
general  responsibility  for  the  public  undertakings ;  the 
board  of  public  works,  supposed  to  be  competent  in  the 
details  of  construction ;  the  city  engineer,  who  delegates 
an  inspector  from  his  office  to  see  that  the  plans  and 
specifications  are  followed;  the  sewers  committee  of 
the  city  council;  and  the  councilmen  from  the  second 
ward,  who  will  see  that  their  political  henchmen  are 
given  any  jobs  which  they  may  want  on  the  contractor's 
force.  If  the  sewer,  when  completed,  fails  to  operate, 
who  is  to  blame?  If  the  citizens  have  to  pay  twice 
what  the  work  should  cost,  they  can  only  complain  until 
they  are  tired,  to  their  officials,  none  of  whom  can  be 
made  to  accept  the  responsibility. 

Honest  men,  whether  officials  or  contractors,  cannot 


34  FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT 

do  good  work  under  such  circumstances,  an^l  dishonest 
men  find  their  thievery  made  easy  for  them  by  such  a 
badly  organized,  inefficient  and  irresponsive  govern- 
ment. Such  a  process  of  authorizing,  making  and 
supervising  public  improvements  can  be  used  for  selfish 
or  criminal  ends  at  every  step  in  its  progress. 

Responsible  Executive  Type. — In  the  earliest 
movement  for  reform  in  municipal  government  which 
came  as  a  result  of  manifest  defects  in  the  mayor- 
council  type,  and  of  the  civic  decay  into  which  many 
of  our  large  cities  had  fallen  by  reason  of  those  de- 
fects, the  first  effort  was  to  accomplish  the  reform 
without  fundamental  changes  in  the  existing  form. 
Any  proposal  for  an  entirely  new  machine  of  govern- 
ment meets  with  the  opposition  not  only  of  those  who 
do  not  want  good  government,  but  of  many  good 
citizens  who  are  naturally  conservative  in  their  attitude 
and  who  are  fearful  of  any  new  and  radical  scheme 
which  seems  to  be  experimental  and  untried. 

The  responsible  executive  type  follows  closely  the 
mayor-council  form,  but  with  the  effort  to  fix  respon- 
sibility upon  the  mayor,  and  to  give  him  sufficient  power 
to  make  him  the  real  head  of  the  city  government. 
His  term  was  lengthened,  four  years  being  usually  the 
limit.  The  short  ballot  was  put  into  use  and  the  mayor 
was  given  the  power  to  appoint  and  dismiss  subordinate 
officials,  with  the  usual  exception  of  the  clerk,  attorney 
and  auditor,  the  two  former  being  regarded  as  assist- 
ants to  the  city  council,  and  the  latter  as  an  impartial 
check  upon  the  financial  operations  of  the  city.  These 


FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT  35 

officials,  under  this  form,  are  usually  appointed  by  the 
council. 

The  council  itself  is  usually  elected  at  large,  reduced 
in  number,  and  its  administrative  functions  curtailed  by 
taking  away  the  authority  over  the  city's  work  formerly 
possessed  by  its  committees.  Minor  city  officials  and 
employees  are  generally  placed  under  some  sort  of 
merit  system  which  governs  appointments,  promotions 
and  dismissals.  The  mayor  is  usually  well  paid.  The 
councilmen  draw  small  salaries  and  are  supposed  to 
devote  but  a  portion  of  their  time  to  their  public  duties, 
which  are  confined  to  legislative  and  policy- forming 
functions.  The  mayor  participates  in  legislation  by 
means  of  his  recommendations  to  the  council  and  by 
his  veto  power,  and  is  the  sole  administrative  head  of 
the  government. 

This  form  is  a  considerable  improvement  over  the 
older  types  and  has  produced  a  change  for  the  better 
in  most  of  the  cities  in  which  it  has  been  tried.  Its 
success  depends  largely  upon  the  character  of  the  man 
who  is  elected  mayor.  Its  chief  advantage  is  in  placing 
responsibility  upon  a  single  official  and  giving  him  a 
fair  show  to  make  good.  It  increasingly  recognizes 
that  city  government  is  largely  a  business  undertaking 
and  that,  if  results  are  to  be  expected,  officials  must  be 
more  free  from  restrictions  and  have  opportunity  to 
apply  some  of  the  principles  of  successful  business  to 
public  affairs. 

Its  chief  defects  are  found  in  the  turnover  which 
follows  the  election  of  a  new  mayor,  and  in  the  political 


36  FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT 

features  of  the  administrative  organization  resulting 
from  the  election  of  a  mayor  whose  chief  incentives 
are  those  of  a  partizan  politician.  Under  it  a  political 
machine  is  readily  built  up  which,  in  the  hands  of  keen 
and  unscrupulous  men,  may  obtain  a  strangle-hold 
upon  the  city  and  open  the  way  to  all  sorts  of  abuses 
and  perversions  of  government.  Honest  intention  is 
no  safeguard  from  inefficiency  of  new  and  inexperi- 
enced heads  of  departments.  No  large  private  business 
could  hope  to  succeed  if  its  executives  were  changed 
every  four  years,  nor  if  its  chief  employees  were  hired 
for  any  other  reason  than  their  character  and  capacity 
to  perform  their  duties. 

If  a  demagogue  is  elected  mayor,  as  has  often  hap- 
pened, particularly  in  our  larger  cities,  the  responsible 
executive  form  plays  directly  into  his  hands.  He  may 
hold  his  popularity  by  plausible  speech  or  by  his  ability 
to  dramatize  popular  issues,  and  at  the  same  time  cor- 
rupt and  rob  the  city  in  every  department  of  the  public 
business.  He  may  be  the  creature  of  some  selfish 
political  boss  or  the  willing  servitor  of  some  conscience- 
less state  party  machine. 

Honest  and  capable  men  are  furnishing  good  govern- 
ment to  many  of  our  cities,  large  and  small,  under  the 
various  modifications  of  this  form,  and  if  such  men, 
having  demonstrated  their  intelligence  and  capacity 
as  city  executives,  were  reasonably  sure  of  reelection, 
so  that  we  might  benefit  from  their  experience  in,  and 
growing  knowledge  of,  the  public  business,  and  might 
retain  indefinitely  the  services  of  their  efficient  subor- 


FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT  37 

dinates,  we  might  well  be  satisfied  to  make  it  the  per- 
manent type  of  our  city  organization. 

Commission  Form. — Beginning  in  Galveston  in 
1900  the  commission-form  of  city  government  has 
spread  over  the  country  with  great  rapidity,  until  more 
than  four  hundred  cities  now  employ  it.  Boards  or  com- 
missions for  certain  administrative  functions  had  been 
common  in  our  state  and  city  governments  for  many 
years  and  the  larger  private  business  organizations  fur- 
nished examples  of  the  efficiency  of  the  form  and  its 
adaptability  for  all  sorts  of  large  undertakings.  The 
idea  is  as  old  at  least  as  the  Roman  Empire,  but  its 
adaptation  to  the  government  of  American  cities  is 
new. 

A  board  of  commissioners,  usually  five  in  number, 
elected  for  four-year  terms  on  a  non-partizan  ballot  and 
often  with  overlapping  tenure,  performs  both  the  legis- 
lative and  administrative  duties  of  conducting  the  city 
government.  One  member  is  either  elected  as  mayor, 
or  is  appointed  to  that  position  by  the  board  from 
among  its  members,  and  the  members  divide  among 
themselves  the  various  specific  departments  of  the  city's 
business.  Sometimes  the  members  are  elected  for  spe- 
cific jobs,  and  less  frequently  the  member  elected  as 
mayor  designates  the  position  in  the  administrative  or- 
ganization which  each  of  his  fellow  commissioners  shall 
fill.  Where  election  is  not  to  a  specific  department,  a  re- 
organization follows  the  inauguration  of  one  or  more 
new  commissioners.  The  short  ballot,  the  direct  pri- 
mary or  the  preferential  or  the  Hare  system  of  voting, 


38  FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT 

abolition  of  party  tickets,  the  merit  system  for  minor 
employees,  restriction  of  campaign  expenses,  the  recall, 
the  initiative,  and  the  referendum  are  commonly  a  part 
of  the  commission  scheme. 

Organized  as  a  city  council,  the  commissioners  per- 
form legislative  functions  and  ordinarily  appoint  those 
officers  who  serve  the  council  rather  than  individual 
commissioners,  such  as  clerk,  attorney,  auditor,  pur- 
chasing agent,  police  court  judges,  civil  service  com- 
missioners, etc.  Schools,  libraries,  parks,  playgrounds 
and  harbor  facilities  are  often  administered  by  elective 
or  appointive  boards,  frequently  under  general  laws  of 
the  state  and  independent  of  the  city  government.  In 
a  typical  commission  organization  the  city's  business  is 
divided  under  the  heads  of  public  works,  public  safety, 
finance,  public  utilities,  and  public  welfare,  but  the  sub- 
division is  more  or  less  elastic  and  a  bureau  is  often 
transferred  from  one  commissioner  to  another. 

The  individual  commissioners,  in  addition  to  their 
duties  in  the  legislative  and  policy-determining  body, 
have  charge  of  the  administrative  work  in  their  several 
departments  and  employ  or  dismiss  the  heads  of  their 
subdivisions.  The  mayor  is  ceremonial  head  of  the 
city  and  president  of  the  council,  but  has  no  veto  power, 
nor  has  he  any  more  authority  or  influence,  outside  his 
own  department,  than  his  associates.  In  cities  of  con- 
siderable size  all  the  commissioners  are  required  to  de- 
vote their  whole  time  in  business  hours  to  their  public 
duties  and  are  usually  paid  good  salaries,  up  to  five 
thousand  dollars  per  year.  In  smaller  cities  the  com- 


FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT  39 

missioners  are  frequently  three  in  number  and  may  give 
only  part  of  their  time  to  the  city's  business. 

The  introduction  of  the  commission  form  brought 
about  a  great  improvement  in  city  government.  City 
councils  usually  met  daily  at  a  stated  hour  and  citizens 
had  the  new  satisfaction  of  being  able  to  get  into  im- 
mediate touch  with  their  public  servants.  They  knew 
who  was  personally  responsible  for  specific  acts  and  that 
if  they  could  not  get  satisfaction  from  the  individual 
commissioner  they  had  an  appeal  to  a  council  which 
held  daily  sessions.  There  was  little  delay  in  decisions, 
and  there  could  be  no  avoidance  of  responsibility. 
That  the  abolition  of  national  partizan  politics  in  city 
affairs,  the  introduction  of  more  effective  methods  of 
voting,  and  the  restriction  of  campaign  expenditures  are 
all  steps  toward  better  government  has  been  abundantly 
proved  by  over  twenty  years'  experience  with  the  com- 
mission form. 

In  these  twenty  years  of  commission  experience  cer- 
tain weaknesses  have  developed  in  the  form.  We  are 
no  longer  satisfied  with  a  government  that  is  only 
tolerable  and  are  ready  to  admit  and  to  study  our  fail- 
ures in  order  to  make  progress.  The  commission  form 
fixes  responsibility,  but  fixing  responsibility  upon  a 
weak  man  does  not  make  him  a  strong  man,  and  if  it 
results  in  turning  him  out  of  office  at  the  expiration  of 
his  term  or  in  recalling  him  before  his  term  expires,  it 
does  not  insure  a  higher  efficiency  or  intelligence  in 
his  successor.  We  have  lamentably  failed  in  trying 
to  elect  administrative  experts.  In  fact,  the  conditions 


40  FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT 

of  office-holding  under  the  commission  form  make  it 
almost  impossible  for  an  active  business  man,  one  of 
demonstrated  ability  and  acknowledged  success,  to  run 
for  office.  The  sacrifice  required  in  loss  of  income  and 
abandonment  of  private  business  is  too  great,  and  as 
a  consequence  we  must  make  our  selection  from  among 
men  who  need  the  salary  and  who  are  willing  to  dodge, 
trim  and  side-step  in  order  to  be  elected. 

An  argument  used  in  favor  of  commission  form  at 
its  inception  was  that  it  would  be  a  decided  advantage 
to  have  the  active  heads  of  departments  sit  as  a  city 
council  to  pass  the  ordinances;  that  men  who  do  the 
city's  work  are  best  qualified  to  make  the  city's  laws. 
This  is  no  more  accurate  than  to  say  that  the  men  who 
make  the  laws  are  best  fitted  to  do  the  work.  It 
is  probably  true  that  five  heads  of  departments  make 
a  better  legislative  body  than  the  old  style  city 
council,  but  serious  objections  have  developed  to  giv- 
ing both  legislative  and  executive  functions  to  the 
same  men,  and  it  is  now  believed  that  five  men  are  too 
few  for  a  representative  council  except  in  the  smaller 
towns,  and  too  many  for  an  executive  authority.  A 
five-headed  government  with  authority  and  responsi- 
bility is  better  than  the  older  forms  lacking  both  these 
attributes,  but  it  does  not  attain  the  best  results  in  city 
administration. 

City  Manager  Form. — The  latest  development  in 
the  structure  of  American  city  government  is  the  city 
manager  form,  examples  of  which  can  now  be  found 
in  over  three-fourths  of  our  states.  Its  structure  is 


FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT  41 

simple  and  in  nearly  one-third  of  the  cities  where  it  is 
now  in  operation  it  has  been  brought  into  being  by 
local  ordinances,  without  charter  changes.  While  it  is 
a  new  scheme  as  adapted  to  city  administration  in 
America,  its  principles  have  been  in  general  use  in  pri- 
vate business  and  in  the  management  of  the  public 
schools,  parks  and  libraries,  and  it  approximates  the 
system  which  has  been  successfully  used  in  the  govern- 
ment of  many  European  cities.  It  has  given  satisfac- 
tion in  nearly  every  city  where  it  has  had  a  fair  trial, 
and  has  been  endorsed  by  most  of  the  leading  students 
of  municipal  government.  The  National  Municipal 
League  has  promulgated  it  exclusively  in  its  Model  City 
Charter.1 

As  is  the  case  with  other  forms,  it  differs  consider- 
ably in  different  cities,  and  in  those  places  where  it  has 
been  adopted  without  charter  changes  there  are  still 
some  officials  elected  who,  under  the  best  adaptations 
of  the  system,  should  be  appointed.  It  separates  the 
legislative  and  executive  departments  more  completely 
than  any  other  form  of  city  government,  usually  going 
so  far  as  to  forbid,  under  penalty,  the  interference  of 
the  members  of  the  legislative  body  with  the  purely 
administrative  work  of  the  city. 

Its  essential  features  are  an  elected  city  council, 
usually  small  and  with  long  terms,  with  duties  strictly 
limited  to  legislative  and  policy-forming  functions  and 
the  appointment  of  the  city  manager.  This  official  may 
or  may  not  be  a  local  resident.  He  is  employed  on  the 
1  National  Municipal  League,  261  Broadway,  New  York  City. 


42  FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT 

basis  of  his  training,  experience  and  general  fitness,  is 
generally  selected  from  a  considerable  number  of  ap- 
plicants and  is  paid  a  larger  salary  than  has  been  usual 
for  city  officials.  He  has  no  fixed  term  but  can  be  dis- 
missed whenever  the  council  so  determines,  and  another 
person  employed. 

The  city  council  or  commission  usually  appoints  the 
clerk,  the  attorney,  and  the  auditor  or  controller.  It  is 
the  instrument  through  which  the  people  express  their 
will  in  public  policies,  the  means  whereby  democracy 
functions.  Its  members  are  usually  unpaid,  or  receive 
a  nominal  fee  based  upon  attendance  at  the  meetings. 
It  determines  how  much  money  shall  be  spent,  how  it 
shall  be  raised  and  to  what  specific  purpose  it  shall  be 
applied.  When  these  matters  have  been  settled,  it  in- 
structs its  hired  man,  the  city  manager,  to  go  ahead 
with  the  work.  It  decides,  being  in  constant  touch  with 
the  people,  its  constituents,  whether  or  not  the  new 
bridge  shall  be  built,  where  it  shall  stand,  what  mate- 
rials shall  be  used  in  its  construction,  how  much  it  shall 
cost  and  how  the  money  shall  be  raised.  These  are 
purely  matters  of  policy. 

The  building  of  the  bridge  is  an  expert  job,  and  is 
left  to  the  expert  and  the  assistants  selected  and  employ- 
ed by  him.  The  city  manager  may  advise  the  members 
of  the  council,  but  if  he  is  wise  he  will  seldom  advise 
except  when  so  requested,  and  will  leave  to  them 
their  specific  functions  as  completely  as  they  must  leave 
administrative  work  to  him.  He  usually  has  a  seat  in 
the  council  chamber  and  is  required  to  attend  the  meet- 


FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT  43 

ings.  He  is  held  strictly  responsible  and  his  authority 
in  his  own  field,  including  the  appointment  and  dis- 
missal of  his  chief  assistants,  is  generally  commensu- 
rate with  his  responsibility. 

Administrative  departments,  depending  upon  the  size 
and  the  various  activities  of  the  city,  are  organized 
under  the  authority  of  the  city  council  as  to  numbers, 
salaries,  etc.,  but  with  the  personnel  and  direction  in 
charge  of  the  manager,  the  heads  of  departments  bear- 
ing the  same  relation  to  him  as  he  bears  to  the  council, 
the  whole  structure  built  upon  those  constructive  prin- 
ciples of  efficiency  which  long  experience  has  approved 
in  large  private  undertakings  but  which  have  been  so 
lacking  in  our  municipal  organizations. 

The  outstanding  differences  between  the  city  manager 
form  and  all  other  varieties  of  city  government  are 
first,  the  entire  separation  of  the  legislative  from  the 
executive  branches,  and,  secondly,  the  substitution  of 
experts  for  amateurs  at  the  executive  end.  We  may 
frankly  admit  our  failure  to  elect  competent  executives, 
but  we  can  and  must  elect  our  representatives  to  deter- 
mine such  public  policies  as  cannot  be,  or  are  not  usually, 
submitted  directly  to  us  as  voters.  The  city  manager 
form  helps  us  in  getting  representative  men  as  mem- 
bers in  the  city  council,  by  making  the  duties  of  council- 
man so  light  that  men  of  public  spirit  who  are  in  active 
business  or  professional  life  need  not  sacrifice  too 
much  of  their  time  in  undertaking  these  duties. 

The  coming  of  the  expert  in  city  administration  is 
made  possible  by  the  abolishment  of  the  local-residence 


44  FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT 

requirement.  There  is  now  the  incentive  to  study  and 
train  for  this  fine  occupation  in  the  good  salaries  paid, 
the  possibility  of  promotion  from  one  city  to  another 
as  the  result  of  efficient  work,  the  practical  insurance  of 
a  good  job  so  long  as  a  man  can  produce  and  deliver, 
and,  more  than  all,  the  splendid  opportunity  for  service 
in  the  army  of  the  common  good. 

The  Influence  of  Form  in  City  Government. — 
The  common  notion  that  all  we  need  to  do  to  produce 
good  government  is  to  elect  good  men  to  public  office, 
is  fast  becoming  obsolete,  but  is  still  held  by  many  of 
our  best  citizens.  We  are  beginning  to  realize  that 
form  has  much  to  do  with  bringing  the  desired  result, 
and  we  are  now  aware  that  good  government  is  the  re- 
sult of  three  principal  factors,  viz.,  good  men  in  office, 
a  good  form,  and  a  continuing  interest  in  public  affairs 
by  the  citizens.  Charters  and  ordinances  are  the  tools 
of  democracy,  and  we  know  that  poor  tools  hamper 
good  workmen  in  any  line  of  endeavor. 

The  modern  citizen  asks  more  and  more  of  his  gov- 
ernment with  the  passing  years  and  in  response  to  the 
new  ideals  of  human  relationship.  The  bare  protection 
of  life  and  property,  once  the  sole  object  of  government, 
will  no  longer  satisfy  him.  Government  in  a  democracy 
is  our  collective  business  and  "the  modern  city  has  come 
to  be  a  huge  corporation  for  carrying  on  a  huge  busi- 
ness with  many  branches,  most  of  which  call  for  special 
aptitude  and  training."  *  The  ideal  city  government 

*John   Fiske,   Civil  Government  in  the   United  States,   1890, 
Chap.  V. 


FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT  45 

must  be  democratic,  efficient,  and  economical,  with  its 
business  affairs  run  on  business  principles,  but  it  must 
be  more  than  is  contained  in  this  cold  category.  It  must 
be  warm-hearted,  human-minded,  and  responsive  to 
ethical  and  spiritual  demands  as  well  as  to  material 
needs. 

While  form  alone  will  not  produce  these  results,  it  is 
an  essential  factor  in  them.  Democracy  demands  that 
the  governmental  organization  be  representative  of  the 
citizenship  and  as  responsive  as  may  be  to  the  will  of 
the  majority.  Good  government  imposed  from  above 
does  not  meet  the  requirement;  we  must  have  the 
means  of  working  out  our  own  salvation  by  giving  free 
expression  to  our  needs,  our  hopes  and  our  aspirations. 
We  must  be  taught  by  experience  and  not  driven  by 
authority.  Any  form  which  is  based  upon  the  presump- 
tion that  the  people  do  not  know  what  they  want  or  how 
to  get  it,  is  undemocratic.  We  may  properly  restrain, 
by  charters  slow  in  amendment,  the  impulse  to  govern- 
mental change  as  a  result  of  violent  emotions  and  quick 
upheavals,  but  we  must  not  hamper  the  ultimate  rule  of 
the  majority. 

Efficient  government  requires  that  policies  demo- 
cratically determined  be  put  into  operation  with  reason- 
able speed  by  our  representatives  in  administrative  posi- 
tions. Many  of  our  city  charters  seem  to  have  been 
written  with  the  idea  that  no  one  but  a  thief  or  a 
scoundrel  would  accept  public  office,  and  that  thieves, 
present  and  presumptive,  must  be  restrained  and  ham- 


46  FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT 

pered  by  law  so  that  they  may  do  as  little  damage  as 
possible.  It  is  pitiful  to  see  an  honest,  courageous  and 
capable  public  servant  struggling  up  through  such 
handicaps,  keen  and  ready  to  do  good  work  but  curbed 
and  circumscribed  by  vicious  laws  framed  upon  the 
destructive  policy  that  it  is  better  to  limit  the  power 
of  a  bad  official  than  to  give  opportunity  for  service 
to  a  good  one. 

Economy,  in  public  affairs  as  well  as  private,  is  not 
parsimony  nor  niggardliness;  it  is  not  denying  our- 
selves any  good  thing  which  we  may  be  able  to  afford. 
It  is  thrift,  "common  sense  applied  to  spending,"  get- 
ting the  worth  of  our  money,  a  dollar's  worth  for  our 
dollar.  It  is  curbing  extravagance  and  waste,. a  stop- 
page of  the  leaks,  buying  judiciously,  encouraging 
honesty  and  punishing  theft.  That  form  of  govern- 
ment which,  in  the  hands  of  honest  and  capable  offi- 
cials, accomplishes  these  results  is  the  one  which  we 
must  strive  to  discover  and  establish. 

Of  the  fact  that  form  is  not  self-sufficient  we  have 
abundant  proof.  In  one  of  our  largest  cities,  one  which 
has  the  responsible  executive  form  of  government,  the 
good  government  organization  known  as  "The  Munici- 
pal Voters  League"  reported  in  1920,  "We  have  to- 
day *  *  *  the  absolute  domination,  by  a  small  political 
ring,  of  virtually  all  the  governmental  activities  of  the 
community."  *  That  form  is  largely  instrumental  in 

1  Chicago  Municipal  Voters'  League,  Twenty-sixth  Preliminary 
Report  on  Aldermanic  Records,  1920. 


FORMS  OF  GOVERNMENT  47 

procuring  clean,  democratic  and  responsive  administra- 
tion, is  proved  by  the  experience  of  hundreds  of 
American  cities  which  are  today  free  from  graft  and 
political  bossism  and  which  are  working  out  their 
problems  with  energy,  faith  and  optimism. 


CHAPTER  III 

MUNICIPAL   CHARTERS  AND   HOME   RULE 

The  charter  of  an  American  city  is  its  fundamental 
law,  subject  of  course  to  the  constitutions  of  the  state 
and  the  nation  and  to  such  laws  of  the  state  and  the  na- 
tion as  may  apply  within  its  territory.  Formerly,  when 
city  charters  were  granted  by  kings  and  governors,  they 
represented  only  such  rights  and  privileges  as  the  ruler 
was  willing  to  grant  or  which  had  been  forced  from  him 
by  the  people.  In  some  American  states  this  relation  is 
maintained,  the  legislature  granting  the  rights  on  the 
same  basis  on  which  they  were  formerly  granted  by  the 
monarch.  In  many  states,  however,  cities  of  consider- 
able size  are  authorized  to  make  their  own  charters,  and 
the  measure  of  their  authority  differs  in  nearly  every 
state,  depending  upon  the  extent  to  which  the  policy  of 
"home  rule"  has  been  recognized  and  adopted.  It. must 
be  remembered  that  a  state  may  adopt  a  constitution  and 
enact  laws  with  a  freedom  which  cities  do  not  have.  The 
state  may  do  anything  not  expressly  forbidden  in  the 
national  Constitution  or  in  the  national  statutes  based 
upon  that  constitution.  The  city  can  do  nothing  which 
it  has  not  been  specifically  authorized  to  do  by  the 
state.  It  acts  by  virtue  of  a  delegated  authority,  a 

48 


MUNICIPAL  CHARTERS  AND  HOME  RULE  49 

grant  of  the  use  of  the  state's  power  in  its  local  con- 
cerns, and  this  grant  can  be  cancelled  or  withdrawn  at 
the  pleasure  of  the  state  government. 

Charters  are  essentially  laws,  but  laws  more  fixed 
and  stable  than  those  statutes  and  ordinances  enacted 
by  legislatures  and  city  councils.  Statutes  and  ordi- 
nances can  be  repealed  or  amended  with  little  delay  by 
the  authority  that  adopted  them,  unless  there  is  a  ques- 
tion of  contractual  rights  under  them.  Charters,  like 
constitutions,  cannot  so  easily  be  changed;  they  are 
established  with  the  definite  purpose  of  withstanding 
transient  waves  of  popular  emotion,  giving  to  the  people 
abundant  freedom  of  government,  but  requiring  time 
for  sober  second  thought  before  change  can  be  effected, 
and  often  requiring  more  than  a  majority  vote  for  their 
adoption  or  amendment. 

Charters,  therefore,  should  consist  of  basic  principles 
of  city  government  and  should  not  contain  details  of 
legislation,  which  may  better  be  left  to  the  ordinances 
enacted  from  time  to  time  by  the  city  council.  This 
is  the  common  error  of  charter  commissions  and  legis- 
latures, that  they  do  not  observe  the  distinction  between 
the  basic  and  the  ephemeral  and  that  they  cumber  city 
charters  with  a  mass  of  legislation  which  might  much 
better  be  left  to  the  city  council  to  enact  or  to  change 
as  the  public  business  warrants.  City  charters  are 
often  too  lengthy,  cumbered  with  unnecessary  detail 
and  often  fix  in  the  fundamental  law  many  proposals  of 
passing  importance,  thereby  making  them  difficult  of 


50    MUNICIPAL  CHARTERS  AND  HOME  RULE 

change  and  requiring  much  unnecessary  time  for  amend- 
ment or  repeal. 

An  example  of  this  error  and  of  unnecessary  repeti- 
tion is  found  in  the  charter  adopted  by  the  city  of 
Sacramento  in  1920.  Section  8  of  that  charter  reads  as 
follows : — 

"The  city  is  authorized  ...  to  join  with  one  or  more  cities 
incorporated  under  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  state,  in 
order  to  acquire  and  develop  jointly  a  source  or  sources  of  water 
supply,  light,  heat  or  power  for  municipal  or  domestic  purposes, 
to  construct  the  works  necessary  for  their  joint  and  several 
purposes  and  needs,  and  to  unite  with  such  cities  in  bond  issues 
therefor.  With  reference  to  such  matters  or  any  of  them,  the 
city  shall  have  full  power  to  act  independently.  The  supply  of 
water  for  this  city  for  municipal  and  domestic  purposes  shall 
always  be  owned  and  controlled  as  a  municipal  institution  and 
be  administered  by  the  city  government.  No  meters  shall  ever 
be  attached  to  residence  water  service  pipes ;  provided,  however, 
that  the  city  council  in  its  discretion  may  regulate  by  meter  the 
water  supply  of  business  and  industrial  enterprises.  The  water 
supply  of  the  city  shall  not  be  sold  or  leased  to  any  person,  firm 
or  corporation  nor  shall  any  franchise  for  such  purpose  ever  be 
granted." 

The  latter  half  of  this  section,  beginning  with  the 
words  "No  meters"  might  well  have  been  omitted.  Sac- 
ramento pumps  its  water  from  the  river,  using  coal  for 
power.  It  is  a  common  result  of  metering  water  serv- 
ices to  reduce  the  quantity  pumped  by  one-third  or 
even  one-half  without  interfering  in  any  way  with  the 
proper  usage  of  water,  thus  greatly  reducing  the  cost 
of  pumping.  As  this  is  one  of  the  principal  items  in  the 
cost  of  water  service,  by  its  reduction  and  the  abolish- 
ment of  waste  the  price  of  water  might  easily  be  re- 
duced to  all  consumers.  Universal  metering  of  city 
water  supply  is  generally  understood  to  be  the  proper 


MUNICIPAL  CHARTERS  AND  HOME  RULE    51 

and  economical  practice,  and  the  city  council  should 
have  been  left  free  to  introduce  it  in  Sacramento  as 
soon  as  its  utility  came  to  be  appreciated.  The  last  sen- 
tence in  the  section  is  a  redundancy,  being  fully  and 
strongly  covered  in  the  preceding  provision. 

The  Des  Moines  commission  charter  is  contained  in 
thirty  pages  of  an  ordinary  law  book  and  is  a  very 
concise  and  complete  document,  which  has  been  exten- 
sively copied.  The  Model  Charter  of  the  National 
Municipal  League  covers  about  forty  such  pages.  The 
Grand  Rapids  commission-manager  charter  of  1917 
requires  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  pages  to  contain 
it,  the  Houston  responsible-executive  charter  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five,  and  the  Galveston  commission 
charter  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight. 

There  are  three  methods  by  which  American  cities 
can  obtain  new  charters :  by  a  direct  act  of  the  legisla- 
ture; by  the  selection  of  one  of  the  forms  of  "ready- 
made"  charters  embodied  in  state  statutes;  and,  in  the 
so-called  "home  rule"  states,  by  the  act  of  a  freeholders 
commission.  Often  the  larger  cities  in  the  state  are  al- 
lowed the  privilege  of  a  home-made  charter,  while  the 
smaller  ones  are  required  to  accept  a  "ready-made" 
charter  enacted  by  the  legislature.  At  the  present  time 
the  choice  of  a  form  of  city  government  usually  lies 
between  the  city  manager,  the  commission,  and  the 
responsible  executive  types,  but  the  mayor-council  type 
is  also  optional  in  several  states.  Much  of  the  detail 
in  all  charters  depends  upon  the  constitution  and  laws 


52    MUNICIPAL  CHARTERS  AND  HOME  RULE 

of  the  state  in  which  the  city  is  located,  and  also  upon 
local  conditions  and  progressive  aspirations. 

In  most  of  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States,  notable 
exceptions  being  Ohio  and  Michigan,  city  charters  can 
be  granted  only  by  the 'legislatures,  the  movement  for 
home  rule  for  cities  having  gained  its  largest  expression 
in  the  Western  and  Southern  states.  And  not  only  do 
state  legislatures  retain  close  authority  in  the  granting 
of  charters ;  they  often  exercise  that  authority  in  petty 
matters  at  each  recurring  session.  It  sometimes  hap- 
pens that  the  political  party  in  power  in  a  city  is  not 
the  same  one  that  controls  the  state  government,  and 
this  is  a  common  cause  for  undue  interference  with 
the  city  by  the  state.  For  this  cause  (or  with  this 
excuse)  the  New  Hampshire  legislature  of  1921  de- 
prived the  city  of  Manchester  of  much  of  its  administra- 
tive power,  taking  away  from  the  city  authority  over  its 
streets,  sewers  and  police  force  and  placing  them  in 
the  hands  of  commissioners  appointed  by  the  governor. 
City  charters  have  been  arbitrarily  repealed  by  legisla- 
tures for  like  causes. 

The  New  York  legislature  of  1908  passed  three 
hundred  and  thirty-three  bills  which  applied  to  the 
city  of  New  York.  The  mayor  of  that  city  may  veto 
an  act  of  the  state  legislature  affecting  the  city,  but  the 
act  may  be  passed  over  his  veto  by  a  majority  vote,  if 
taken  within  ten  days  thereafter.  Members  of  the 
legislature  representing  the  remote  districts  in  northern 
and  western  New  York  are  exercising  a  powerful  in- 
fluence in  the  purely  local  affairs  of  New  York  City, 


MUNICIPAL  CHARTERS  AND  HOME  RULE    53 

affairs  with  which  they  do  not  have  personal  contact 
and  with  which  they  have  no  concern.  Conditions 
such  as  are  here  outlined  have  been  and  are  common  in 
the  relationship  of  our  state  and  city  governments. 
They  have  been  the  cause  of  the  movement  for  home 
rule  for  cities,  which  has  spread  over  the  Western  and 
Southern  states  and  is  now  gaining  ground  in  the  cen- 
tral section. 

Some  small  measure  of  home  rule  is  possessed  by 
cities  in  several  states  which  lack  general  home  rule 
laws.  The  constitution  of  Illinois  has  a  provision  per- 
mitting special  legislation  for  the  city  of  Chicago,  pro- 
vided that  a  majority  of  the  electors  of  the  city  favor 
it.  Under  this  arrangement  the  citizens  of  Chicago 
may  reject  any  law  pertaining  to  the  city  passed  by  the 
legislature,  which  they  regard  as  being  against  their 
interests.  Constructive  affirmative  action  is  not  con- 
templated. Horace  E.  Deming  in  "The  Government 
of  American  Cities"  says:  "The  absolute  dominion 
of  the  state  legislatures  over  our  cities  has  made  the 
local  voter  feel  helpless  and  hopeless,  and  has  stifled 
local  patriotism.  *  *  *  Except  that  our  senses  had 
been  dulled  by  long  use  to  the  usurpation  of  state  legis- 
latures of  the  functions  of  local  government,  such  a 
legislative  abuse  of  power  would  have  been  impossible. 
*  *  *  It  violates  the  most  cherished  principle  of  free 
government.  The  very  idea  of  it  is  repulsive."  l 

Growth  and  progress  are  bringing  a  better  conception 

1  Horace   E.   Deming,    The   Government   of  American   Cities, 
1909,  p.  30. 


54    MUNICIPAL  CHARTERS  AND  HOME  RULE 

of  city  government  and  a  decided  demand  for  home 
rule  for  cities.  Good  citizenship  everywhere  deplores 
the  evil  conditions  prevalent  in  so  many  of  our  cities 
and  recognizes  the  propriety  of  a  larger  measure  of 
local  self-government  as  the  first  remedy.  There  is 
no  logical  reason  why  a  city  should  submit  its  internal 
problems  to  a  legislative  body  whose  members  come 
largely  from  rural  surroundings,  whose  sessions  are 
short  and  infrequent,  and  whose  processes  are  not  con- 
ducive to  careful  study,  broad  comprehension  or  de- 
liberate action  upon  the  vital  problems  of  modern 
municipal  life.  Some  functions  of  government,  such 
as  deal  with  health,  education  and  the  public  peace, 
may  be  handled  better  by  the  broader  authority  of  the 
state,  but  there  is  every  reason  for  allowing  cities  the 
greatest  freedom  for  self-expression  in  local  matters, 
consistent  with  the  basic  structure  of  our  government. 
The  first  step  necessary  to  bring  about  this  reform  in 
those  states  which  do  not  now  give  the  proper  freedom 
to  their  cities  in  charter-making,  is  the  adoption  of  a 
constitutional  amendment  similar  to  the  provisions  in 
Colorado  and  Oregon,  which  are  practically  identical 
with  that  proposed  by  the  National  Municipal  League, 
as  follows:  "Such  proposed  charter  and  such  al- 
ternative provisions  as  are  approved  by  a  majority  of 
the  electors  voting  thereon  shall  become  the  organic 
law  of  such  city  at  such  time  as  may  be  fixed  therein, 
and  shall  supersede  any  existing  charter  and  all  laws 
affecting  the  organization  and  government  of  such 
city  which  are  in  conflict  therewith."  After  constitu- 


MUNICIPAL  CHARTERS  AND  HOME  RULE    55 

tional  power  is  obtained,  the  next  step  is  to  provide  the 
machinery  for  obtaining  new  charters  and  submitting 
them  to  a  vote  of  the  people  of  the  cities.  This  is 
generally  done  through  a  charter  commission,  usually 
fifteen  in  number,  elected  by  the  people  of  the  city. 

This  charter  commission  organizes  by  the  election 
of  a  chairman  and  a  clerk  and  proceeds  to  study  the 
charters  of  well-governed  cities,  holding  hearings,  writ- 
ing letters  of  inquiry,  listening  to  the  advocates  of 
special  proposals  and  often  dividing  itself  into  com- 
mittees for  the  consideration  of  special  departments  of 
government.  The  finished  document  embodying  the  re- 
sults of  their  labors  is  always  a  compromise,  represent- 
ing a  balance  of  opinion  between  the  members  of  the 
commission,  not  only  their  opinion  on  the  provisions 
of  the  proposed  charter,  but  their  judgment  of  what  new 
features  will  cause  the  charter  to  be  accepted  or  rejected 
by  the  voters.  For  the  approval  of  any  forward-look- 
ing charter  by  the  people  of  the  city  it  is  necessary  to 
have  a  voluntary  and  numerous  group  of  citizens  to 
give  publicity  to  the  subject  and  to  make  the  arguments 
for  public  support.  Indeed,  most  charter  commissions 
are  obtained  through  the  preliminary  activities  of  such 
an  interested  group  of  citizens,  and  the  charter  usually 
takes  its  form  from  their  opinions  and  desires. 

Charter  changes  which  promise  better  civic  condi- 
tions are  usually  opposed  by  three  distinct  groups  of 
citizens :  first,  the  vicious  element,  whose  members  do 
not  want  good  government;  second,  the  politicians, 
who  fear  that  a  change  will  deprive  themselves  and 


56    MUNICIPAL  CHARTERS  AND  HOME  RULE 

their  heelers  and  satellites  of  their  power  and  their 
emoluments;  and,  third,  a  considerable  fiumber  of 
ordinarily  good  citizens  who  are  frightened  at  innova- 
tions and  can  be  easily  scared  into  the  belief  that  the 
new  scheme  is  impracticable  or  that  it  will  disturb 
business  or  increase  taxation.  The  former  two  groups 
may  be  depended  upon  to  fight  the  adoption  of  the  new 
charter  and  to  keep  up  a  guerilla  warfare  upon  it  after 
adoption.  They  will  take  advantage  of  every  eddy  of 
popular  disapproval  of  the  new  government  or  the  acts 
of  the  new  officials  and  launch  a  movement  for  the 
repeal  of  the  charter  whenever  they  think  they  can 
rally  discontented  good  citizens  to  the  standard  of  re- 
volt. The  third  group  will  support  the  new  government 
as  soon  as  they  realize  that  their  fears  of  it  were  ground- 
less, and  that  civic  conditions  have  improved. 

The  Model  Charter. — No  human  document  is 
perfect.  Change  is  normal  in  all  our  institutions,  and 
the  thing  we  completely  endorse  today  we  may  be  able 
to  improve  upon  tomorrow.  Lowell  warns  us  to  avoid 
taking  ourselves  too  seriously,  saying: 

"And  doubtless  after  us  some  purer  scheme 
Will  be  shaped  out  by  wiser  men  than  we, 
Made  wiser  by  the  steady  growth  of  truth." l 

In  our  study  of  city  charters  and  of  the  details  of 
charter-making  we  shall  take  as  a  pattern  the  Model 
City  Charter  issued  in  1916  by  the  National  Municipal 
League.  It  was  formulated  by  a  committee  of  twelve 
of  the  most  eminent  students  of  municipal  affairs 
1  James  Russell  Lowell,  A  Glance  Behind  the  Curtain. 


MUNICIPAL  CHARTERS  AND  HOME  RULE    57 

in  this  country,  men  of  close  contact  with  their  subject 
and  without  any  selfish  purpose.  It  has  formed  the 
pattern  for  several  charters  now  in  operation  and  is 
based  upon  principles  and  practices  of  city  government 
which  have  been  thoroughly  demonstrated.  Lack  of 
space  forbids  its  complete  reproduction  in  this  volume. 
We  must  be  content  with  a  synopsis  of  its  provisions 
and  some  comment  upon  them.  It  deals  with  the  essen- 
tials of  city  administration  and  presupposes  constitu- 
tional home  rule.  It  does  not  cover  the  administration 
of  schools,  parks,  libraries  or  harbors,  as  in  most  states 
these  undertakings  are  carried  on  under  general  state 
laws.  It  is  prefaced  with  a  draft  of  constitutional 
provisions  necessary  for  its  introduction,  and  where 
these  or  like  provisions  are  not  contained  in  the  consti- 
tution of  the  state,  they  must  be  made  a  part  of  that 
document  before  the  form  of  city  government  proposed 
can  be  used  to  its  best  advantage  in  the  cities  of  the 
state. 

Constitutional  Provisions. — Sections  i  and  2 
provide  for  general  laws  authorizing  the  incorporation 
of  cities  and  villages  both  by  home-made  charters  and 
by  the  adoption  of  selective  forms  prepared  in  general 
statutes.  In  every  case  the  charters  must  be  finally 
approved  by  a  majority  of  the  electors  in  the  city  or 
village. 

Section  3  authorizes  cities  to  frame  their  own  char- 
ters and  furnishes  the  method  by  which  charter  com- 
missions may  be  created  and  the  resulting  charter  sub- 
mitted to  a  vote  of  the  people. 


58    MUNICIPAL  CHARTERS  AND  HOME  RULE 

Section  4  provides  that  amendments  to  the  charter 
may  be  initiated  by  a  charter  commission,  by  a  two- 
thirds  vote  of  the  city  council,  or  by  a  ten  per  cent  petn 
tion  of  electors,  and  when  approved  by  a  majority  vote 
of  the  people  the  amendments  become  part  of  the 
charter. 

Section  5  defines  the  powers  of  the  municipality. 
This  is  most  important,  as  the  state  is  the  source  of  all 
powers  in  its  subdivisions.  This  section  makes  a  general 
grant  of  power  "to  exercise  all  powers  relating  to  mu- 
nicipal affairs,"  further  providing  that  "no  enumera- 
tion of  powers  in  this  constitution  or  any  law  shall  be 
deemed  to  limit  or  restrict  the  general  grant  of  au- 
thority hereby  conferred,"  and  then  follows  it  with 
specific  enumeration  of  powers  in  the  matters  of  taxa- 
tion, public  utility  ownership  and  operation,  public 
improvements  with  the  power  of  excess  condemnation, 
the  borrowing  of  money,  school  and  library  adminis- 
tration and  police  and  sanitary  regulation. 

Sections  6,  7  and  8  provide  for  state  supervision  of 
accounting  and  reports,  and  for  elections,  and  open  the 
way  for  consolidation  of  city  and  county  government. 

Where  the  constitution  or  general  laws  make  a  full 
enumeration  of  specific  powers  of  municipal  corpora- 
tions, there  is  no  necessity  for  a  long  catalog  of  the 
city's  powers  in  a  charter.  In  fact,  such  a  catalog  is 
dangerous  unless  there  be  a  general  clause  covering 
such  proper  and  legal  matters  as  may  have  been  omitted 
from  the  detailed  list.  In  home-rule  states  specific 
enumeration  of  powers  is  more  necessary  than  in  states 


MUNICIPAL  CHARTERS  AND  HOME  RULE    59 

in  which  cities  are  under  constant  tutelage  of  the  legisla- 
ture, and  the  charter  enumeration  in  those  states  is  an 
expression  of  the  desires  of  the  people  of  the  city  to 
limit  the  authority  of  their  own  elected  officials.  In 
the  state  of  Ohio,  under  the  new  constitutional  amend- 
ments of  1912,  some  cities  enumerate  powers  in  much 
detail  in  their  charters,  while  others  do  not.  Sandusky's 
charter  contains  this  provision:  "It  [the  city]  shall 
have,  and  may  exercise,  all  powers  which  now  or  here- 
after it  would  be  competent  for  this  charter  specifically 
to  enumerate,  as  fully  and  completely  as  though  said 
powers  were  specifically  enumerated  herein;  and  no 
enumeration  of  particular  powers  by  this  charter  shall 
be  held  to  be  exclusive." 

Charter  Provisions. — Section  i  creates  the  city 
council  and  gives  it  the  authority  "to  exercise  all  the 
powers  conferred  upon  the  city."  In  a  footnote  it  is 
suggested  that  in  states  where  no  constitutional  enu- 
meration of  powers  exists,  the  statutes  be  made  to 
cover  those  activities  previously  recommended  as  con- 
stitutional provisions. 

Sections  2  to  5  inclusive  cover  the  composition, 
powers,  organization,  duties  and  procedure  of  the  city 
council.  Notable  provisions  are  the  requirement  that 
"the  meetings  of  the  council  and  all  sessions  of  the  com- 
mittees of  the  council  shall  be  public"  and  "neither  the 
council  nor  any  of  its  committees  or  members  shall 
dictate  the  appointment  of  any  person  to  office  or  em- 
ployment by  the  city  manager." 

Section  6  deals  with  the  duties  of  the  mayor,  who  is 


60    MUNICIPAL  CHARTERS  AND  HOME  RULE 

elected  by  the  council  from  among  its  members.  He 
is  official  head  of  the  city  for  ceremonial  purposes,  for 
conducting  law  suits ;  he  presides  at  sessions  of  the  coun- 
cil and  may,  with  the  consent  of  the  council,  maintain 
order  in  emergencies.  Otherwise  his  power  is  no 
greater  than  that  of  any  other  member  of  the  council. 

Sections  7  to  10  inclusive  provide  for  nomination  by 
petition,  setting  out  a  form  of  petition.  Two  alternative 
provisions  for  elections  are  presented,  one  by  the  Hare 
system  of  proportional  representation  and  the  other  for 
preferential  voting  by  the  Bucklin  system.  The  details 
and  merits  of  these  methods  of  conducting  elections 
will  be  considered  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

Sections  n  to  33  inclusive  deal  with  the  recall 
of  elective  officials,  the  initiative  and  the  referendum. 

Sections  34  and  35  provide  for  the  election  and  re- 
moval of  the  city  manager  by  the  council,  fix  his  salary 
and  briefly  define  his  powers  and  duties.  He  may 
be  an  inhabitant  of  another  city  or  state.  His  term  is 
indefinite  and  he  may  be  removed  from  office  at  the 
will  of  the  council.  If  he  is  removed  after  six  months 
tenure,  he  may  demand  written  charges  and  a  public 
hearing,  but  the  power  of  the  council  to  dismiss  is 
absolute.  He  is  held  responsible  "for  the  proper  ad- 
ministration of  all  affairs  of  the  city"  and  is  given 
power  to  appoint  his  subordinates. 

Section  36  provides  for  an  annual  budget,  to  be 
prepared  by  the  city  manager  and  submitted  to  the  city 
council. 
Section  37  divides  the  administrative  work  of  the 


MUNICIPAL  CHARTERS  AND  HOME  RULE    61 

city  into  six  departments,  namely,  law,  health,  works 
and  utilities,  safety  and  welfare,  education,  and  finance. 
These  may  be  combined  or  abolished  or  new  depart- 
ments created  by  a  three- fourths  vote  of  the  council.  It 
provides  that  salaries  of  employees  shall  be  fixed  by  the 
council  and  that  they  shall  be  uniform  in  like  employ- 
ments. This  makes  the  organization  very  elastic  so 
that  it  may  be  readily  adapted  to  the  size  of  the  city, 
and  increased  or  diminished  as  the  need  arises.  Stand- 
ardization of  salaries  is  as  desirable  as  it  is  now  rare 
in  city  administration. 

Sections  38  and  39  cover  the  qualifications,  duties  and 
responsibilities  of  heads  of  departments.  They  are 
appointed  by  the  city  manager  and  may  be  removed  by 
him  at  any  time.  They  are  required  to  possess  special 
qualification  or  experience  in  their  several  lines  of 
activity  and  are  made  immediately  responsible  to  the 
city  manager. 

Section  40  gives  power  to  issue  subpoenas,  administer 
oaths  and  compel  the  production  of  books  and  papers 
in  any  investigation  pertaining  to  city  affairs. 

Sections  41  to  48  inclusive  establish  the  merit  system 
in  city  employment.  A  civil  service  board  of  three 
members,  with  six-year  overlapping  terms,  is  appointed 
by  the  city  council  and  empowered  to  make  rules  for  em- 
ployment standardization,  for  appointment  after  com- 
petitive tests,  for  promotion,  transfer,  suspension  and 
removal  of  employees.  Many  such  rules  are  made  in 
detail  in  these  sections.  Soliciting  or  receiving  any 


62     MUNICIPAL  CHARTERS  AND  HOME  RULE 

contribution  for  political  purposes  is  forbidden,  with 
abundant  detail,  and  religion  and  politics  are  forbidden 
as  causes  for  employment  or  dismissal.  Seven  pages  of 
the  charter  are  devoted  to  the  civil  service,  bearing  elo- 
quent evidence  to  the  common  and  pernicious  practices 
in  the  employment  of  subordinates  in  many  of  our  cities. 

Sections  49  to  62  are  devoted  to  financial  provisions 
and  cover  in  much  detail  accounts  and  records,  the 
budget,  appropriations,  tax  levy,  assessments,  includ- 
ing special  assessments  of  property  benefited  for  public 
improvements,  bond  issues  and  loans,  claims  and  audits. 
A  vital  provision  is  that  allowing  public  work  to  be 
done  by  the  city  departments  when  so  authorized  by 
the  council,  the  authorization  to  be  based  upon  detailed 
estimates  submitted  by  the  department  head.  The  ex- 
istence of  such  a  provision  often  saves  thousands  of 
dollars  even  when  not  often  used,  by  its  influence 
upon  the  bids  of  contractors. 

Sections  63  to  72  cover  public  utilities.  The  sub- 
ject is  so  vital  to  city  life,  and  the  makers  of  the 
Model  Charter  have  given  it  such  comprehensive  and 
intelligent  consideration,  that  their  statement  of  the 
principles  upon  which  public  policy  in  relation  to  utili- 
ties should  be  founded,  though  not  contained  in  the 
charter  itself,  are  well  worthy  of  reproduction  here. 

The  public  utility  and  franchise  policy  embodied  in  a  model 
city  charter  should  be  so  formulated  as  to  conserve  and  further 
the  following  purposes : 

I.  To  secure  to  the  people  of  the  city  the  best  public  utility 
service  that  is  practicable. 


MUNICIPAL  CHARTERS  AND  HOME  RULE     63 

II.  To  secure  and  preserve  to  the  city  as  a  municipal  cor- 
poration the  fullest  possible  control  of  the  streets  and  of  their 
special  uses. 

III.  To  remove  as  far  as  practicable  the  obstacles  in  the  way 
of  the  extension  of  municipal  ownership  and  operation  of  public 
utilities,  and  to  render  practicable  the  success  of  such  ownership 
and  operation  when  undertaken. 

IV.  To  secure  for  the  people  of  the  city  public  utility  rates 
as  low  as  practicable,  consistent  with  the  realization  of  the  three 
purposes  above  set  forth. 

It  should  be  no  part  of  such  policy  to  secure  compensation  for 
franchises  or  special  revenues  for  general  city  purposes  by  an 
indirect  tax  upon  the  consumers  of  public  utility  services. 

In  formulating  a  policy  to  carry  out  the  four  purposes  above 
stated,  the  following  principles  should  be  recognized: 

1.  Each  utility  serving  an  urban  community  should  be  treated 
as   far  as  practicable  as  a  monopoly  with  the  obligations  of  a 
monopoly;  and  its  operation  within  the  city  should  be  based  as 
far  as   practicable   upon   a   single   comprehensive   ordinance   or 
franchise  grant  uniform   in   its  application  to  all  parts  of   the 
city  and  to  all  extensions  of  plant  and  service. 

2.  Every  franchise  should  be  revocable  by  the  city  upon  just 
compensation  being  paid  to  its  owners,  when  the  city  is  prepared 
to  undertake  public  ownership. 

3.  The  control  of  the  location  and  character  of  public  utility 
fixtures,  the  character  and  amount  of  service  rendered  and  the 
rates  charged  therefor  should  be  reserved  to  the  city,  subject 
to  reasonable  review  by  the  courts  or  a  state  utilities  commission 
where  one  exists. 

4.  The  granting  and  enforcement  of  franchises  and  the  regu- 
lation   of    utilities    operating   thereunder    should   be   subject   to 
adequate  public  scrutiny  and  discussion  and  should  receive  full 
consideration  by  an  expert  bureau  of  the  city  government  estab- 
lished and  maintained  for  that  purpose  or  in  case  the  maintenance 
of   such   a   bureau   is   impracticable,   by  an   office  or  committee 
designated  for  that  purpose. 

5.  Private  investments  in  public  utilities  should  be  treated 
as  investments  in  aid  of  public  credit  and  subject  to  public  con- 
trol, and  should  be  safeguarded  in  every  possible  way  and  the 
rate  of  return  allowed  thereon  should  be  reduced  to  the  minimum 
return   necessary  in   the  case  of   safe  investments  with  a  fixed 
and  substantially  assured  fair  earning  power." 

Sections  73  to  76  provide  for  a  city  planning  board 
of  three  members  and  define  its  powers  and  duties. 


64    MUNICIPAL  CHARTERS  AND  HOME  RULE 

Sections  77  to  79  provide  for  publicity  of  accounts 
and  records,  forbid  action  for  the  city  by  officials  and 
employees  in  any  matter  in  which  they  have  a  financial 
interest,  and  fix  the  time  at  which  the  charter  takes 
effect. 


CHAPTER  IV 

ELECTIONS    AND    APPOINTMENTS 

The  election  of  our  public  servants  is  one  of  the 
most  important  privileges  and  duties  of  citizenship  in 
a  democracy.  We  have  seen  that  it  is  secondary  only 
to  the  duty  of  providing  good  tools  with  which  they  may 
work,  good  charters  which  will  instruct  them  as  to  our 
desires  and  expectations  and  under  which  they  have  a 
fair  chance  to  render  real  service.  We  have  had  ex- 
perience in  American  cities  with  terms  of  office  varying 
from  one  year  to  a  life-tenure,  and  are  now  pretty 
generally  agreed  that  four  years  is  a  reasonable  and 
proper  length  of  term,  not  only  in  cities  where  only 
members  of  the  council  are  elected,  but  those  in  which 
executive  officials  are  elected  as  well.  Too  short  a 
term  does  not  give  the  incumbent  time  to  become 
familiar  with  his  work,  and  too  long  a  term  is  produc- 
tive of  conditions  and  practices  tending  to  autocracy. 
The  long  term  is  useful  in  giving  us  the  advantage 
of  increasing  knowledge  and  experience  in  a  satis- 
factory official  and  has  lost  its  menace  of  autocracy 
and  incapacity  through  the  introduction  of  the  recall. 

In  councils,  commissions  and  administrative  boards 
terms  of  office  are  usually  arranged  so  that  they  over- 

65 


66         ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS 

lap.  This  is  in  order  that  business  shall  not  be  impeded 
by  the  lack  of  members  of  experience  after  the  election 
of  new  members.  In  commission  cities  where  there  are 
five  commissioners  with  four-year  terms,  after  the  first 
election  it  is  usual  to  have  a  city  election  every  two 
years,  electing  two  and  three  candidates  at  alternating 
elections.  Cities  under  the  mayor-council  form  and 
the  responsible-executive  form  usually  have  large  coun- 
cils elected  from  wards.  The  Cleveland  charter  adopted 
in  1913,  amended  in  1921  to  the  city  manager  form, 
was  a  typical  responsible  executive  charter  in  which  the 
mayor  was  elected  at  large  and  the  councilmen  from 
wards,  both  with  two-year  terms.  A  citizen  voted  for 
only  two  officers,  the  mayor  and  the  councilman  from 
the  ward  in  which  he  resided.  The  overlapping  term  is 
not  so  necessary  in  large  as  in  small  councils,  for  in  the 
former  case  a  considerable  number  of  old  members  are 
usually  reelected.  City  elections  are  best  held  in  the 
spring  or  on  the  alternate  years  between  congressional 
elections  so  that  the  voters  may  concentrate  upon  their 
local  affairs  without  the  confusion  of  national  issues. 

Nominations. — In  cities  where  the  national  poli- 
tical party  organizations  are  still  active  the  ballot  is 
usually  long  and  nominations  are  made  in  party  conven- 
tions or  by  the  direct  primary.  Where  party  designa- 
tions are  forbidden  on  the  ballots — and  this  is  now  done 
under  most  modern  charters — nominations  are  usually 
made  by  petition.  Primary  elections  are  dispensed 
with  where  the  preferential  system  or  proportional  rep- 
resentation are  used  in  elections,  and  as  elections  are 


ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS          67 

expensive,  these  newer  systems  have  an  advantage  in 
economy.  In  Dayton,  the  first  city  of  size  to  adopt 
the  city  manager  form,  nominations  are  made  by  peti- 
tion, a  primary  election  is  held,  and  later  the  regular 
municipal  election.  In  order  to  have  his  name  placed 
upon  the  ballot  in  the  primary  election,  the  candidates' 
petition  must,  in  Dayton,  contain  the  names  of  "at  least 
two  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  registered  voters  in 
the  municipality."  The  signer  certifies  that  he  has 
"not  signed  similar  petitions  greater  in  number  than  the 
number  of  commissioners  to  be  chosen  at  the  next  gen- 
eral municipal  election."  Petitions  must  be  filed  thirty 
days  before  the  date  set  for  the  primary  election,  so 
that  the  names  may  be  checked  against  the  registration 
list.  The  candidate  whose  petition  is  found  sufficient 
must  file  his  acceptance  of  the  nomination,  when  his 
name  is  placed  upon  the  primary  election  ticket.  The 
Springfield,  Ohio,  charter  requires  the  signer  of  a  nom- 
inating petition  to  pledge  himself  to  support  and  vote 
for  the  candidate  whose  petition  he  signs. 

The  nomination  by  petition  is  a  considerable  im- 
provement over  the  caucus  and  convention  system  and 
has  worked  well  in  most  cities  where  it  has  been  tried. 
If  conventions  were  always  composed  of  wise  and  un- 
selfish men  who  had  only  the  city's  good  in  mind,  no 
better  means  of  nomination  could  be  asked.  But  a  nom- 
inating convention  controlled  by  a  political  boss  or  a 
vicious  and  selfish  party  machine — and  many  of  them 
are  so  controlled — is  one  of  the  prime  causes  of  bad 
government.  The  convention  could  draft  honest  and 


68         ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS 

competent  men  into  the  public  service,  men  who  are 
not  seeking  office,  but  who  could  be  induced  to  give 
some  of  their  time  for  the  good  of  their  city  and  would 
consent  to  run  for  office  if  they  were  reasonably  sure 
of  election.  The  disadvantage  of  the  petition  system  is 
that  the  most  desirable  citizens  for  public  officials  will 
not  take  the  time  to  circulate  petitions  and  that  duty 
devolves  upon  those  who  are  interested  in  good  govern- 
ment and  who  believe  that  the  office  should  seek  the  man 
rather  than  the  man  the  office.  Persistent  office-seekers 
are  not  the  most  desirable  material  for  public  servants. 
The  Primary  Election. — The  names  of  all  candi- 
dates for  the  offices  to  be  filled,  whose  nominating  peti- 
tions have  been  found  sufficient,  are  placed  upon  the 
primary  election  ballot.  The  Dayton  charter  among 
others  provides  for  the  rotation  of  the  names  so  that 
no  one  shall  have  the  advantage  of  being  at  the  top 
of  all  of  the  tickets  as  is  the  case  when  names  are  alpha- 
betically arranged.  The  voter  marks  crosses  opposite 
as  many  of  the  names  on  the  ballot  as  there  are  offices 
to  be  filled.  Usually  the  two  candidates  for  a  single 
office  receiving  the  greatest  number  of  votes  in  the 
primary  are  entitled  to  have  their  names  appear  on  the 
ballot  as  candidates  at  the  regular  election,  which  fol- 
lows a  few  days  later.  In  Dayton,  where  the  five  com- 
missioners are  the  only  city  officials  elected,  the  charter 
provision  is  as  follows:  "The  candidates  for  nomina- 
tion to  the  office  of  commissioner  who  shall  have  re- 
ceived the  greatest  vote  in  such  primary  election  shall 
be  placed  on  the  ballot  at  the  next  regular  municipal 


ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS          69 

election,  in  number  not  to  exceed  double  the  number 
of  vacancies  in  the  commission  to  be  filled."  General 
city  elections  are  usually  held  under  the  general  elec- 
tion laws  of  the  state,  which  cover  qualifications  and 
registration  of  voters,  the  size  and  location  of  precincts, 
the  selection  of  polling  places,  the  employment  and  com- 
pensation of  clerks  and  judges  of  election,  the  secret 
ballot  and  the  safeguards  against  illegal  voting. 

Preferential  System  of  Voting. — The  preferen- 
tial system  for  city  elections  was  first  introduced  in 
the  United  States  by  the  little  city  of  Grand  Junction, 
Colorado,  in  1908,  followed  by  Spokane  in  1910  and 
Cleveland  in  1913.  Instead  of  limiting  the  expression 
of  the  voter's  choice  to  one  candidate  for  an  office  as 
in  the  older  schemes  of  voting,  it  allows  him  to  indi- 
cate a  second  choice  and  one  or  more  third  choices 
among  the  candidates.  The  voting  for  second  and  third 
choices  is  not  obligatory.  It  lessens  the  expense  of 
elections  by  doing  away  with  the  necessity  for  primary 
elections,  and  makes  the  voter's  action  more  effective, 
not  so  much  in  favor  of  any  one  candidate  as  in  prevent- 
ing the  election  of  candidates  whom  he  is  unwilling  to 
support  as  his  second  and  third  choices.  The  ballots 
are  arranged  with  three  columns  of  blank  spaces  fol- 
lowing the  candidates'  names,  with  the  printed  headings 
"first  choice,"  "second  choice"  and  "other  choices."  In 
Spokane  the  candidates'  names  are  printed  in  alphabeti- 
cal order,  while  in  Cleveland  they  are  rotated.  Instruc- 
tions to  voters  are  printed  at  the  head  of  the  ballot. 
The  usual  instructions  are  as  follows: 


70         ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS 

"To  vote  for  any  candidate,  make  a  cross  (X)  in  the  square 
in  the  appropriate  column  according  to  your  choice,  at  the  right 
of  the  name  voted  for.  Vote  your  first  choice  in  the  first  column. 
Vote  your  second  choice  in  the  second  column.  Vote  in  the 
third  column  for  all  other  candidates  whom  you  wish  to  support. 
Do  not  vote  for  more  than  one  first  choice  and  one  second  choice 
for  any  one  office.  Do  not  vote  more  than  one  choice  for  the 
same  candidate,  as  only  one  choice  will  count  for  any  one  candi- 
date. If  you  wrongly  mark,  tear  or  deface  this  ballot,  return  it 
and  obtain  another." 

It  is  surprising  how  few  defective  ballots  have  to  be 
thrown  out  for  failure  to  observe  and  follow  the  in- 
structions. Some  preliminary  publicity  and  discus- 
sion of  the  system  is  usually  carried  on  and  is  most 
desirable.  In  Spokane  a  mock  election  was  held  at  a 
well-attended  luncheon  meeting  of  citizens.  No  expla- 
nation of  the  method  was  made  except  the  printed  in- 
structions on  the  tickets  which  were  placed  one  at  each 
plate.  The  tickets  were  marked  with  almost  no  errors. 
Instructions  for  counting  the  ballots  are  simple  and 
readily  understood ;  no  election  board  will  muddle  them, 
and  the  result  is  quickly  determined.  Following  is  the 
method  for  determining  the  election : 

"The  candidate  for  any  office  receiving  a  majority  of  first- 
choice  votes  cast  for  candidates  for  that  office  shall  be  declared 
elected.  If  no  candidate  shall  receive  a  majority  of  the  first- 
choice  votes  for  such  office,  then  the  second-choice  votes  received 
by  each  candidate  for  such  office  shall  be  added  to  the  first-choice 
for  each  such  candidate  and  the  candidate  receiving  the  largest 
number  of  first-choice  and  second-choice  votes  combined,  if  such 
votes  constitute  a  majority,  shall  be  declared  elected.  If  no  can- 
didate shall  have  a  majority,  after  adding  the  first-choice  and 
second-choice  votes,  the  other-choice  votes  received  by  each 
candidate  shall  be  added  to  the  combined  first-choice  and  second- 
choice  votes  received  by  each  such  candidate,  and  the  candidate 
having  the  largest  number  of  first-choice,  second-choice  and 
other-choice  votes  combined  shall  be  elected  to  such  office." 

Ties  are  decided  by  giving  the  election  to  the  candi- 


ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS          71 

date  having  the  largest  first-choice  vote,  or,  if  these 
happen  to  be  the  same,  by  lot. 

In  the  first  election  for  commissioners  in  Spokane 
•when  five  were  elected,  there  were  ninety-two  candi- 
dates. It  was  a  heterogeneous  list,  including  nearly 
every  one  connected  with  the  old  regime,  plenty  of 
others  of  like  type  and  capacity,  many  incompetents 
attracted  by  the  $5,000  salary,  and  a  fair  sprinkling  of 
high-class  men,  awakened  to  a  new  sense  of  public 
duty.  There  was  no  confusion  by  reason  of  the  large 
number  of  candidates,  the  election  passed  off  without 
any  difficulty  and  resulted  in  the  election  of  five  rep- 
resentative and  honest  men,  only  one  of  whom  had  had 
previous  experience  as  a  city  official. 

It  was  Spokane's  first  experience  with  the  short 
ballot,  for,  contrary  to  a  common  impression,  the  short 
ballot  is  such  by  reason  of  few  offices  to  be  filled  rather 
than  by  a  small  number  of  candidates  for  those  offices. 
As  compared  with  the  three  or  four  hundred  names 
occasionally  appearing  on  a  "long  ballot,"  ninety-two 
names  do  not  make  a  very  long  one.  According  to 
Professor  W.  B.  Monro : 

"The  record  for  unwieldiness  appears  to  be  held  by  a  ballot 
used  in  the  Thirty-second  Assembly  District  of  New  York  State 
a  few  years  ago.  It  contained  the  names  of  835  candidates."  * 

Proportional  Representation. — A  principal  cause 
of  the  indifference  of  citizens  to  their  duty  in  voting 
is  found  in  their  impression  that  their  votes  will  have 

*W.  B.  Munro,  The  Government  of  American  Cities,  1917, 
footnote  on  p.  145. 


72         ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS 

no  effect,  that  their  candidate  will  either  be  defeated  or 
elected  by  such  a  majority  that  their  votes  will  not  in- 
fluence the  result,  hence  they  stay  away  from  the  polls. 
It  is  ordinarily  difficult  in  municipal  elections  to  bring 
out  more  than  half  of  the  potential  voters  of  the  city. 
Proportional  representation  tends  to  overcome  both 
these  evils,  making  effective  a  much  larger  proportion 
of  the  votes  cast  and  securing  the  final  control  of  the 
majority,  not  in  the  electorate  as  a  whole  but  in  the 
city  council.  This  result  is  not  achieved  by  submerging 
minorities,  as  in  the  case  of  the  ordinary  methods  of 
election,  but  by  providing  the  means  whereby  any  min- 
ority group  whose  numbers  entitle  it  to  one  or  more 
seats  in  the  council,  shall  have  that  representation. 

Under  our  usual  system  of  electing  members  of 
representative  bodies,  city  councils,  state  legislatures, 
school  boards,  etc.,  that  is,  electing  one  from  each 
district,  it  often  happens  that  a  majority  among  all  the 
voters  fails  to  elect  a  majority  of  the  body  being  chosen. 
Such  a  result  is  possible  when  only  two  parties  are  com- 
peting and  it  is  still  more  likely  when  the  parties  num- 
ber three  or  more.  The  cause,  of  course,  is  the  absolute 
waste  in  each  district  of  all  the  votes  except  those  for 
the  one  successful  candidate.  Here  is  an  example: 

Number  of  candidates  to  be  elected,  five. 

Result  in  five  districts: 

(1)  Party  A  505,  Party  B  490 

(2)  Party  A  510,  Party  B  495 

(3)  Party  A  515,  Party  B  498 

(4)  Party  A  100,  Party  B  900 

(5)  Party  A    50,  Party  B  960 


ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS         73 

In  this  case  party  A,  with  a  total  vote  of  only  1,680, 
elected  three  of  the  five  members,  and  party  B,  which 
polled  3,343  votes,  elected  only  two  of  them.  Under 
our  usual  system  also,  substantial  minority  elements, 
numerous  enough  to  deserve  one  or  more  spokesmen 
in  the  deliberative  body,  often  fail  to  elect  the  members 
to  which  they  are  entitled.  How  this  happens  becomes 
clear  in  a  moment  if  we  consider  what  would  happen 
to  a  minority  element  polling,  say,  250  ballots  in  each 
of  the  five  districts  of  the  community  just  considered: 
such  an  element,  though  polling  1,250  votes,  which  is 
more  than  twice  as  many  as  were  required  by  party  A 
to  win  the  seat  in  district  I,  would  not  elect  a  single 
member.  Our  usual  system  of  electing  representatives, 
then,  assures  neither  the  rule  of  the  majority  nor  a  fair 
hearing  to  all  substantial  minorities. 

A  less  common  system  of  electing  representatives, 
namely,  electing  them  on  a  "general  ticket,"  the  voter 
voting  for  as  many  members  as  there  are  to  be  elected,  is 
used  for  the  election  of  some  of  our  deliberative  bodies, 
notably  school  boards  and  the  city  commission  in  cities 
governed  under  the  commission  form.  But  this  sys- 
tem also  fails  to  assure  control  to  the  majority  of  the 
voters  in  case  there  are  more  than  two  parties  in  compe- 
tition. And  as  for  the  representation  of  minorities, 
this  system  usually  suppresses  it  altogether.  It  is  pri- 
marily to  remedy  these  defects  of  the  single-member 
district  and  general  ticket  systems  of  electing  represen- 
tatives that  the  so-called  proportional  system  of  election 


74        ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS 

is  now  used  in  many  of  the  leading  countries  of  Europe 
and  is  being  imported  into  this  country  and  Canada. 

The  proportional  system  differs  from  the  single- 
member  district  system  in  that  the  members  of  the  rep- 
resentative body  are  elected  at  large  (without  districts) 
or  from  districts  large  enough  to  have  several  members 
each.  But  the  members  are  elected  together — for  con- 
venience let  us  say  at  large — from  a  whole  city — are  not 
elected  in  a  block,  as  under  the  old  general  ticket  system, 
but  each  is  elected  by  a  sufficient  number  of  voters  who 
are  united  in  the  desire  to  elect  him.  In  other  words, 
the  proportional  system  is  like  the  single-member  dis- 
trict system  except  that  whereas  under  that  system  each 
member's  constituency  is  so  many  voters  who  live  to- 
gether inside  a  district  line,  under  the  proportional 
system  it  is  about  the  same  number  of  voters  who  think 
together,  that  is,  who  want  the  same  spokesman,  but 
who  may  be  scattered  anywhere  throughout  the  city. 
Under  the  proportional  system,  to  sum  it  all  up,  voters 
of  different  views  have  an  equal  share  in  the  election 
of  the  deliberative  body  which  is  to  make  decisions 
on  behalf  of  all. 

There  is  still  another  serious  defect  in  our  usual 
methods,  both  the  single-member  district  system  and 
the  general  ticket  system,  of  electing  representatives. 
This  is  the  failure  of  either  of  those  methods,  as 
usually  applied,  to  give  the  voter  an  opportunity  of 
expressing  alternative  or  contingent  choices,  that  is, 
of  saying  whom  he  wants,  vto  be  his  representative  in 
case  it  is  found,  when  the  votes  come  to  be  counted, 


ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS         75 

that  his  vote  cannot  help  to  elect  the  candidate  he  pre- 
fers. And  this  failure,  though  it  may  at  first  seem  un- 
important, is  found  on  careful  study  of  the  actual  re- 
sults of  different  voting  methods  to  be  a  very  grave 
defect. 

If  you  were  sending  a  messenger  some  distance  for 
fruit,  and  preferred  apples,  but  did  not  know  whether 
the  fruit  dealer  would  have  any  apples  in  stock  or  not, 
you  would  not  want  to  be  denied  the  privilege  of  tell- 
ing your  messenger  that  if  there  were  no  apples  he 
should  get  oranges  and  that  if  there  were  neither  apples 
nor  oranges  he  should  get  peaches,  and  if  there  were 
none  of  those  fruits  he  should  get  prunes.  Yet  the  old 
methods  of  voting  deny  the  voter  the  privilege  of  ex- 
pressing such  contingent  choices  on  his  ballot.  And  the 
result  is  that  the  voters  do  not  often  dare  to  nominate 
or  to  vote  for  a  rival  to  candidate  Prunes  for  fear  that 
doing  so  will  help  to  elect  a  candidate  whom  they  like 
still  less,  say  Mr.  Dried  Apples.  With  the  alternative 
or  transferable  vote,  as  it  is  called,  voters  dare  to 
nominate  and  to  vote  freely  according  to  their  real  will, 
whereas  with  the  old  non-transferable  vote  they  often 
do  not.  Thus  the  transferable  vote  eliminates  great 
errors,  not  visible  in  the  election  returns  at  all,  which 
are  perhaps  nearly  if  not  quite  as  important  as  those 
visible  errors  of  the  old  systems  which  we  have  pre- 
viously considered. 

The  systems  of  proportional  representation  used  in 
non-English-speaking  countries  eliminate  effectively  the 
visible  errors  we  have  considered,  but  the  invisible 


76        ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS 

errors  just  explained,  more  or  less  ineffectively.  The 
system  adopted  in  English-speaking  countries,  how- 
ever, combining  as  it  does  the  transferable  vote  with 
the  proportional  principle,  eliminates  the  invisible  as 
well  as  the  visible  errors  of  the  old  systems  and  assures 
the  election  of  bodies  which  represent  the  voters  truly. 
This  proportional  system  of  the  English-speaking 
world,  the  "single  transferable  vote"  or  "Hare  system," 
is  used  in  four  American  cities,  Ashtabula,  Ohio,  Boul- 
der, Colorado,  Sacramento,  California,  and  Cleveland, 
Ohio.  It  is  used  also  in  about  a  dozen  cities  of  West- 
ern Canada,  in  all  Irish  elections  (since  1920)  and  in 
many  other  British  dominions.  Its  use  is  spreading 
with  great  rapidity. 

Under  the  Hare  system  the  voter  indicates  his  pref- 
erence for  the  representative  body  by  the  figure  I  oppo- 
site the  name  of  his  candidate  on  the  ballot,  and  he  is 
permitted  to  record  also  his  second  choice  (by  the 
figure  2),  his  third  choice  (by  the  figure  3),  and  so 
on.  He  may  express  as  many  or  as  few  choices 
as  he  pleases.  At  the  voting  booths  only  the  first 
choices  are  counted.  All  the  ballots  are  then  brought 
together  to  the  central  counting  authorities  for  the  en- 
tire district,  which  is  electing  several  representatives, 
preferably  five  or  more.  There  any  candidate  found  to 
have  enough  votes  to  deserve  election — the  quota,  as 
it  is  called — is  declared  elected.  If  any  candidate  has 
more  than  enough,  his  excess  ballots  (selected  so  as  to 
be  fair  to  all  concerned)  are  passed  on,  each  to  the  can- 
didate marked  on  it  as  next  choice  among  the  unelected 


ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS        77 

candidates.  Then  the  candidate  having  fewest  votes  is 
declared  defeated,  and  his  ballots  are  treated  in  the 
same  way. 

As  soon  as  a  candidate  receives  the  quota,  he  is  elected 
and  no  more  ballots  are  given  to  him.  The  process  of 
elimination  is  continued  thus  until  the  required  number 
of  candidates  have  the  quota  or  until  only  the  required 
number  remain  undefeated.  When  the  number  to  be 
elected  is  five,  the  quota  is  barely  more  than  a  sixth  of 
the  ballots.  When  the  number  to  be  elected  is  nine,  the 
quota  is  barely  more  than  a  tenth.  In  every  case  it  is 
the  smallest  number  that  could  be  secured  by  the  re- 
quired number  of  members. 

The  voting  is  simple  and  the  instructions  to  voters 
easily  understood.  In  Sacramento  names  of  candidates 
who  have  been  nominated  by  petitions  of  not  less  than 
200  nor  more  than  400  qualified  electors  are  placed 
on  the  ballot  in  alphabetical  order  of  surnames.  The 
voter  is  instructed  to  "Put  the  figure  i  opposite  the 
name  of  your  first  choice.  If  you  want  to  express 
also  second,  third  and  other  choices,  do  so  by  putting  the 
figure  2  opposite  the  name  of  your  second  choice,  the 
figure  3  opposite  the  name  of  your  third  choice,  and  so 
on.  In  this  way  you  may  express  as  many  choices  as 
you  please.  The  more  choices  you  express,  the  surer 
you  are  to  make  your  ballot  count  for  one  of  the  candi- 
dates you  favor.  This  ballot  will  not  be  counted  for 
your  second  choice  unless  it  is  found  that  it  cannot 
help  your  first;  it  will  not  be  counted  for  your  third 
choice  unless  it  is  found  that  it  cannot  help  either  your 


78        ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS 

first  or  your  second;  etc.  A  .ballot  is  spoiled  if  the 
figure  i  is  put  opposite  more  than  one  name.  If  you 
spoil  this  ballot,  tear  it  across  once,  return  it  to  the 
election  officer  in  charge  of  the  ballots,  and  get  another 
from  him." 

The  system  is  easy  for  the  precinct  election  officials. 
As  for  the  count  at  the  central  headquarters,  that  un- 
doubtedly requires  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  system 
and  some  time,  but  it  presents  no  real  difficulties. 
When  one  reads  for  the  first  time  the  instructions  for 
counting  the  ballots  by  the  central  board,  the  tendency  is 
to  think  that  the  system  is  altogether  too  complicated 
to  be  understood  by  election  boards  and  too  cumbersome 
for  common  use.  But  when  it  is  considered  that  two 
very  important  steps  in  progress  are  accomplished  by 
proportional  representation,  namely,  effective  voting 
and  fair  representation  in  deliberative  bodies,  the  prom- 
ised result  seems  worth  the  effort.  Minority  sub- 
mergence in  government  may  look  endurable  when  we 
belong  to  the  majority  group,  but  if  we  should  some- 
time belong  to  the  minority,  the  situation  would  not 
seem  so  desirable. 

A  really  representative  legislative  body  is  a  very 
rare  thing  in  America,  but  it  is  guaranteed  by  the  use 
of  proportional  representation.  When  we  further  con- 
sider that  the  system  has  been  successfully  and  satisfac- 
torily used  for  many  years  in  countries  where  the 
average  of  literacy  and  intelligence  is  surely  not  greater 
than  in  the  United  States;  when  we  read  the  endorse- 
ment of  its  utility  and  soundness  by  leading  statesmen 


ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS          79 

and  students  of  government  the  world  around,  and 
when  we  know  that  several  American  cities  have  found 
it  easy  in  operation  and  desirable  in  results,  we  need 
not  hesitate  to  engraft  it  into  our  progressive  city 
charters. 

Getting  Out  the  Vote. — No  machinery  of  gov- 
ernment will  automatically  produce  good  citizenship. 
Unless  the  citizen  himself  will  perform  his  part, 
democratic  institutions  will  fail  and  there  will  be  a 
reversion  to  autocracy  of  one  sort  or  another.  The 
common  hindrances  to  good  citizenship  are  laziness  and 
selfishness,  and  these  common  vices  are  at  the  bottom 
of  most  of  our  human  failures.  Professor  Godkin  in 
his  book  "Unforeseen  Tendencies  of  Democracy" 
brings  out  the  thought  that  our  forefathers,  who  estab- 
lished the  first  really  democratic  government  which 
the  world  has  seen,  could  not  conceive  that  people  who 
had  obtained  the  wonderful  privileges  of  self-govern- 
ment would  fail  to  accept  those  privileges  by  neglect- 
ing or  refusing  to  perform  the  accompanying  duties. 
But  such  is  the  case  and  it  is  common  experience  to 
find  most  elections  decided  by  a  vote  of  one-third  or 
one-half  the  potential  voters  of  the  community. 

We  can  help  by  providing  simple  and  effective  ma- 
chinery, by  avoiding  too  frequent  elections,  by  the 
short  ballot  and  by  making  the  citizen's  vote  more  effec- 
tive; but  substantial  reform  is  only  possible  by  instill- 
ing in  the  individual  a  feeling  of  personal  obligation 
to  take  part  in  the  public  business.  Coercive  measures 
have  been  suggested,  but  their  efficiency  is  always  doubt- 


80          ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS 

ful.  A  bill  was  introduced  in  the  Massachusetts  legis- 
lature fining  a  citizen  five  dollars  for  failing  to  vote 
without  a  reasonable  excuse.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  failure  to  vote  should  disqualify  electors  for  a 
short  time  thereafter,  but  we  now  have  a  large  pro- 
portion of  citizens  disqualified  by  failure  to  register, 
and  this  measure  would  only  decrease  their  participa- 
tion in  their  public  business. 

All  sorts  of  incentives  are  now  furnished  by  selfish 
interests  to  bring  to  the  polls  those  adherents  who  will 
contribute  to  some  unpatriotic  end,  to  establish  a  ne- 
farious control  or  to  elect  unprofitable  servants.  In  a 
city  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  it  was  recently  found  that 
just  before  an  election  the  names  of  three  hundred 
and  fifty-seven  employees  were  on  the  playgrounds 
pay-roll,  where  six  were  normally  entered.  Bribery  in 
elections  and  other  election  frauds  which  were  com- 
mon a  generation  ago  are  now  severely  punishable 
under  the  laws  of  most  states,  and  some  of  the  newer 
city  charters  have  attempted  election  reform  by  for- 
bidding corrupt  practices  under  heavy  penalty  and  by 
curtailing  the  expenditures  and  activities  of  candidates. 
The  Spokane  charter  limits  the  expenditure  for  election 
of  any  candidate  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  and 
forbids  certain  common  and  ordinarily  legal  baits  for 
votes.  The  Springfield,  Ohio,  charter  contains  the  fol- 
lowing drastic  provision : 

"No  candidate  for  the  office  of  city  commissioner  shall  make 
any  personal  canvass  among  the  voters  to  secure  his  nomination 
or  election,  or  the  nomination  or  election  of  any  other  candidate 
at  the  same  election,  whether  for  municipal,  county,  state  or  other 


ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS          81 

office.  He  may  cause  notice  of  his  candidacy  to  be  published  in 
the  newspapers,  and  may  procure  the  circulation  of  a  petition 
for  his  nomination ;  but  he  shall  not  personally  circulate  such 
petition,  nor  by  writing  or  otherwise  solicit  any  one  to  support 
him  or  vote  for  him.  He  shall  not  expend  or  promise  any  money, 
office,  employment  or  other  thing  of  value  to  secure  nomination 
or  election;  but  he  may  answer  such  inquiries  as  may  be  put 
to  him  and  may  declare  his  position  publicly  on  matters  of  public 
interest,  either  by  addressing  public  meetings  or  by  making 
written  statements  for  newspaper  publication  or  general  circula- 
tion. A  violation  of  these  provisions,  or  any  of  them,  shall  dis- 
qualify him  from  holding  the  office,  if  elected;  and  the  person 
receiving  the  next  highest  number  of  votes,  who  has  observed 
the  foregoing  conditions,  shall  be  entitled  to  the  office." 

It  is  not  easy  to  see  just  how  a  personal  canvass 
can  be  prevented,  nor  how  newspaper  publicity  or  the 
circulating  of  petitions  or  circularizing  the  voters  can 
be  accomplished  without  the  expenditure  of  money  or 
the  promise  of  future  reward.  These  provisions  in 
the  Springfield  charter  are,  however,  the  product  of 
very  real  abuses  and  a  commendable  effort  to  purify  the 
ballot  and  bring  about  that  much-desired  condition  in 
politics  where  the  office  shall  seek  the  man.  By  the 
introduction  of  those  new  tools  of  democracy,  the 
initiative  and  referendum,  we  are  increasing  our  de- 
mand upon  the  thought  and  action  of  the  electorate, 
continually  calling  upon  the  voter  for  new  duties  and 
discriminations.  If  these  tools  are  to  work  properly, 
the  voter  must  learn  not  to  sign  a  petition  to  oblige  a 
neighbor  nor  to  be  rid  of  a  persistent  solicitor,  but  only 
when,  after  thought,  he  desires  the  thing  which  the 
petition  calls  for.  First  and  most  important  of  all,  he 
must  be  willing  to  register,  go  to  the  polls  and  cast  his 
vote. 

The  Recall  of  Elected  Officials. — Among  the  new 


82          ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS 

tools  of  democracy  one  of  the  most  useful  is  the  recall. 
Its  very  presence  in  the  laws  produces  a  wholesome 
effect.  It  is  now  authorized  in  many  cities  and  in  sev- 
eral states  and  has  been  used  enough  to  demonstrate  its 
salutary  effect  upon  the  actions  of  public  officials.  If 
the  reward  of  the  faithful  were  certain  in  public  life, 
we  should  have  little  use  for  the  recall,  but  so  long  as 
the  retention  of  the  capable  in  office  is  so  uncertain  and 
the  temptations  to  dishonesty  and  unscrupulousness  so 
strong,  the  recall  seems  to  be  necessary.  The  Dayton 
charter  subjects  the  city  manager  to  the  recall,  but  the 
provision  seems  out  of  place  when  applied  to  an  official 
who  is  appointed  and  whose  dismissal  by  the  city  coun- 
cil may  be  so  easily  accomplished.  We  may  fairly 
depend  upon  our  elected  officials  in  city  councils,  them- 
selves subject  to  the  recall,  to  attend  properly  and 
promptly  to  the  case  of  an  appointee  who  has  turned  out 
to  be  an  unprofitable  servant  and  whose  tenure  of  office 
is  completely  in  their  hands. 

Where  the  state  has  adopted  the  recall  for  elective 
state  officials,  city  charters  may  simply  provide  for 
the  recall  under  general  laws.  The  Kalamazoo  charter 
has  this  brief  provision:  "Any  elective  officer  may  be 
removed  by  the  qualified  electors  of  the  city,  at  the 
time  and  in  the  manner  provided  by  the  general  laws 
of  the  state."  The  Sacramento  charter  provision  is 
about  as  brief  and  to  the  same  effect.  The  objection 
to  relying  upon  general  laws  is  the  tendency  of  legis- 
latures under  the  domination  of  a  state  machine,  or 
of  a  railroad,  utility  or  other  selfish  interest,  to  enact 


ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS          83 

recall  statutes  which  are  intentionally  unworkable. 
This  end  is  sometimes  accomplished  by  providing  for 
a  high  percentage  of  voters  upon  the  recall  petition 
or  by  requiring  citizens  to  go  to  the  city  hall  to  sign, 
thus  preventing  the  general  circulation  of  petitions. 

The  recall  is  put  into  action  by  a  petition  containing 
the  names  of  a  certain  number  or  a  certain  percentage 
of  qualified  electors,  usually  fifteen  to  twenty  per  cent  of 
the  votes  cast  at  a  previous  election,  which  is  filed  with 
the  city  council.  The  Cleveland  charter  fixes  the  num- 
ber of  names  necessary  for  starting  a  recall  at  "at 
.least  fifteen  percentum  of  those  who  voted  therein  at 
the  last  preceding  regular  municipal  election."  When 
the  sufficiency  of  the  petition  has  been  determined  by  a 
check  of  the  names  against  the  registration  books,  the 
official  sought  to  be  recalled  is  given  opportunity  to  re- 
sign. If  he  does  not  do  so,  the  council  orders  a  special 
election  unless  there  is  to  be  another  election  within 
sixty  or  ninety  days,  and  provides  for  the  nomination  of 
candidates  to  succeed  the  official  in  case  he  is  recalled. 
The  election  is  conducted  as  are  general  elections  for 
the  office  to  be  filled,  the  official  sought  to  be  recalled 
becoming  a  candidate  along  with  the  others  who  have 
been  nominated.  There  is  often  a  prohibition  of  too 
frequent  use  of  the  recall,  the  Cleveland  charter  provid- 
ing that  "No  recall  petition  shall  be  filed  against  an  offi- 
cer within  three  months  after  he  takes  office,  nor,  in 
case  of  a  member  subjected  to  a  recall  election  and  not 
removed  thereby,  until  at  least  six  months  after  that 
election." 


84        ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS 

Appointed  Officials  and  Employes. — The  ten- 
dency of  the  time  is  toward  fewer  elected  officials  and 
more  who  are  appointed,  but  that  tendency  has  not 
reached  the  bulk  of  American  municipalities,  where  the 
long  ballot  is  still  considered  desirable.  Montpelier, 
under  a  charter  adopted  in  1894,  elects  not  only  the 
mayor,  treasurer,  clerk,  aldermen,  auditor  and  sheriff, 
but  also  constables,  city  grand  jurors,  petit  jurors  and 
county  grand  jurors.  Police  chief  and  policemen  are 
appointed  by  the  mayor  for  the  same  term  as  his  own 
and  he  may  dismiss  them  at  his  pleasure.  Under  such 
a  loose  system  the  police  department  may  easily  be- 
come the  mayor's  political  machine  and  the  citizen  who 
opposes  the  mayor  may  have  some  difficulty  in  keeping 
out  .of  jail.  Under  modern  charters  which  fix  respon- 
sibility for  administration  upon  a  mayor,  a  board  of 
commissioners  or  a  city  manager,  it  has  been  generally 
recognized  that  it  is  futile  to  place  responsibility  with- 
out authority,  not  only  in  carrying  on  the  city's  work 
but  in  building  up  the  organization  of  subordinate 
officials  and  employees  who  perform  and  oversee  the 
various  civic  activities  and  undertakings.  Confirma- 
tion of  the  mayor's  or  manager's  appointments  by  the 
council  is  not  often  required  in  the  newer  charters,  and 
where  it  is  provided  for,  it  is  usually  limited  to  a  few 
heads  of  departments. 

The  Merit  System. — If  we  believe  that  our 
mayor,  commissioners  or  city  manager  is  honest  and 
capable, — and  we  surely  would  not  vote  for  or  support  a 
candidate  of  whom  we  thought  otherwise, — we  must 


ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS         85 

follow  them  into  office  with  the  constructive  presump- 
tion that  they  will  seek  only  worthy  and  competent  as- 
sistants, in  order  that  they  may  make  good.  The  merit 
system  is  not  primarily  a  device,  as  many  suppose,  de- 
signed for  the  purpose  of  curbing  an  official  and  pre- 
venting him  from  appointing  incompetents  to  of- 
fice for  unworthy  purposes.  Its  chief  purpose  is 
to  aid  him  in  procuring  capable  assistants  and  to  take 
from  his  shoulders  the  very  great  nuisance  and 
time-destroyer  of  having  to  listen  to  the  importunities 
of  large  numbers  of  job-seekers.  Civil  service  reform 
was  introduced  into  our  national  government  in  1869, 
not  only  in  the  revulsion  of  feeling  against  the  spoils 
system  but  to  take  some  of  the  burdens  from  the  newly- 
inaugurated  presidents. 

With  the  enormous  growth  of  the  business  of  the 
country  following  the  Civil  War,  the  number  of  public 
servants  multiplied  with  great  rapidity  and  the  problems 
incident  to  their  employment  and  removal  became  more 
and  more  difficult.  At  the  inauguration  of  each  new 
president  office-seekers  flocked  to  Washington  and 
literally  besieged  the  new  incumbent.  In  one  instance 
the  hungry  horde  descended  upon  the  White  House  at 
the  President's  first  reception,  jammed  the  rooms, 
wrecked  the  furniture,  tore  the  clothing  of  members 
of  the  presidential  party  and  raised  havoc  in  general. 
George  William  Curtis  was  chairman  of  the  first  civil 
service  commission  and  it  is  notable  that  in  its  early 
activities  the  commission  devoted  itself  to  providing 
for  appointments  only,  advising  that  removals  be  left 


86         ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS 

to  the  president.  The  law  of  1883  provided  for  com- 
petitive examinations,  excluded  drunkards,  forbade  the 
appointment  of  more  than  two  persons  from  any  one 
family,  gave  preference  in  employment  to  honorably 
discharged  soldiers  and  sailors,  and  forbade  the  collec- 
tion of  political  assessments.  Not  until  1889  was  the 
rule  made  that  an  employee  under  civil  service  should 
not  be  removed  without  filing  written  charges  and 
giving  the  dismissed  employee  an  opportunity  of  an- 
swering them. 

The  chief  objection  to  the  merit  system  as  applied 
in  our  national  government  is  that  so  many  public 
employees  are  held  exempt  from  the  law.  In  1913, 
before  the  activities  of  the  World  War  brought  so  many 
thousands  of  new  employees  into  the  government  service, 
of  all  the  appointive  places  in  the  service,  amounting 
to  391,000  offices,  only  228,000  were  under  civil  serv- 
ice, leaving  163,000  to  be  disposed  of  by  the  party  in 
power.  A  president  has  the  power  to  curtail  or  extend 
the  application  of  the  civil  service  law  and  it  is  a  com- 
mon practice  to  curtail  it  at  the  beginning  of  a  presi- 
dential term  and  extend  it  when  the  incumbent  is  about 
to  retire.  President  Cleveland  removed  ninety  per  cent 
of  the  presidential  officers  during  the  first  sixteen 
months  of  his  first  term  and  made  a  clean  sweep  of  the 
fourth-class  postmasters.  His  successor,  President 
Harrison,  postponed  extension  of  the  civil  service  until 
he  had  dismissed  the  most  of  the  Democrats  and  re- 
placed them  with  Republicans. 

The  application  of  the  merit  system  to  the  employees 


87 

of  our  states  and  cities  has  been  of  very  slow  growth, 
and  has  been  fought  by  the  politicians  at  every  turn  of 
the  road.  It  has  appealed  strongly  to  the  advocates  of 
better  government  and  is  gaining  ground,  having  be- 
come a  part  of  most  of  the  newer  charters  under  which 
our  cities  are  now  working.  We  recognize  the  need 
of  good  men  in  public  employment  and  realize  that  in 
order  to  get  them  we  must  make  the  conditions  of  serv- 
ice not  only  tolerable  but  attractive  to  proper  men  and 
women.  Salary  alone  will  not  tempt  the  class  we  want ; 
there  must  be  opportunity  for  real  service  and  a  chance 
for  an  honorable  career  in  the  work.  In  cities  which 
have  installed  the  merit  system,  applicants  for  employ- 
ment are  required  to  pass  an  examination  adapted  to 
the  duties  of  the  position.  The  names  of  those  who 
pass  the  examination  are  placed  on  an  eligible  list  and 
are  taken  from  the  list  in  regular  order  when  a  place 
is  open.  Usually  three  names  are  certified  to  the  ap- 
pointing official,  who  appoints  one,  and  the  .appointment 
becomes  permanent  after  six  months'  probation  has 
demonstrated  the  appointee's  fitness. 

The  most  common  error  in  preparing  civil  service 
rules  is  in  the  attempt  to  regulate  dismissals  from  the 
classified  service.  When  the  civil  service  commission 
is  given  the  right  of  review  of  a  dismissal  made  by  the 
appointing  official,  and  holds  a  trial  to  determine  its 
action,  it  amounts  to  a  trial  of  the  appointing  official 
and  his  department,  and  sets  the  civil  service  commis- 
sion above  the  elected  officers.  The  reinstatement  of  a 
dismissed  employee  is  a  detriment  to  discipline  and  a 


88         ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS 

death  blow  to  loyalty  in  the  service.  Better  an  injus- 
tice to  an  individual  employee  than  a  loss  of  harmony 
in  the  department,  particularly  where  the  building  of  a 
personal  political  machine  is  prevented  by  close  control 
of  appointments.  The  provision  of  the  Cleveland  rule 
may  well  be  accepted  as  a  model : 

"No  officer  or  employee  within  the  classified  service  shall  be 
removed,  reduced  in  rank  or  discharged  except  for  some  cause 
relating  to  his  moral  character  or  his  suitableness  to  perform  the 
duties  of  his  position,  though  he  may  be  suspended  from  duty 
for  a  period  not  to  exceed  thirty  days,  pending  the  investigation 
of  charges  against  him.  Such  shall  be  determined  by  the  remov- 
ing authority  and  reported  in  writing,  with  a  specific  statement 
of  reasons,  to  the  commission ;  but  shall  not  be  made  public 
without  the  consent  of  the  person  discharged.  Before  such 
removal,  reduction  or  discharge,  the  removing  authority  shall 
give  such  person  a  reasonable  opportunity  to  know  the  charges 
against  him  and  to  be  heard  in  his  own  behalf." 

The  Cleveland  charter  forbids  the  dismissal  from 
city  employment  for  unworthy  reasons  and  gives  to 
the  discharged  employee  the  opportunity  to  meet  any 
charges  made  against  him;  but  the  final  decision 
whether  or  not  he  shall  retain  his  employment  is  where 
it  should  be,  in  the  hands  of  the  appointing  official. 
The  Municipal  Association  of  Cleveland,  a  voluntary 
organization  of  public-spirited  citizens,  issued  in  1912 
an  eighteen-page  pamphlet  devoted  to  the  municipal 
civil  service,  in  which,  among  a  mass  of  useful  and 
helpful  material,  is  this  comment: 

"One  of  the  chief  objects  of  the  merit  system  is  to  secure  a 
higher  efficiency  in  the  public  service,  and  one  of  the  criticisms 
which  has  been  levelled  against  it,  and  which  is  to  some  extent 
based  on  facts,  is  the  criticism  that  experience  shows  that 
efficiency  has  not  been  increased  by  the  adoption  of  this  method 
of  appointment  to  office.  When  this  has  been  true,  it  has  been 


ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS        89 

due  in  a  considerable  measure  to  two  facts :  (a)  The  law  has 
made  the  removal  of  inefficient  employees  too  difficult,  (b)  Suf- 
ficient provision  has  not  been  made  for  recording  and  rewarding 
efficiency.  The  early  civil  service  laws  were  framed  on  the 
theory  that  it  was  necessary  equally  to  protect  entrance  to  and 
exit  from  the  service;  so  most  of  the  laws  made  it  difficult  not 
only  to  get  in,  but  unnecessarily  difficult  to  get  rid  of  unsatisfac- 
tory employees.  This  inevitably  led  to  poor  service,  because  the 
inefficient  were  practically  as  safe  as  the  most  efficient.  The  more 
recent  laws  have  been  framed  with  a  view  to  avoiding  this 
difficulty  by  making  entrance  difficult,  but  exit  easy.  The  power 
of  removal  has  been  left  unrestricted  in  the  hands  of  the  appoint- 
ing authority." 

The  civil  service  section  of  the  Model  Charter  of  the 
National  Municipal  League  is  practically  identical  with 
the  Cleveland  provision  in  regard  to  dismissals,  closing 
with  these  words:  "No  trial  or  examination  of  wit- 
nesses shall  be  required  in  such  case  except  in  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  officer  making  the  removal.  In  all  cases 
provided  for  in  this  paragraph  the  action  of  the  city 
manager  or  head  of  the  department  shall  be  final." 

Administrative  Boards  and  Commissions. — Many 
details  of  municipal  administration  are  properly  placed 
in  the  hands  of  boards  of  citizens  who  are  elected  or 
appointed  for  these  specific  duties.  They  usually  serve 
without  pay  and  are  composed  of  men  and  women  who 
have  shown  interest  and  ability  in  some  branch  of  the 
public  service.  School  boards  are  generally  elected, 
but  boards  in  charge  of  parks,  libraries,  city  planning, 
charities,  the  civil  service,  etc.,  are  usually  appointed. 
The  terms  are  often  long,  ten  years  being  not  uncom- 
mon. The  members  are  appointed  by  the  governor  of 
the  state,  the  mayor,  or  the  city  council  or  commission. 
They  render  great  public  service,  their  acts  being  usually 


90         ELECTIONS  AND  APPOINTMENTS 

characterized  by  devotion,  unselfishness  and  intelligence. 
Many  such  boards  are  not  authorized  by  law  and  they 
serve  in  a  purely  advisory  capacity  to  the  city  govern- 
ment. A  wise  mayor  or  city  council  will  frequently  call 
together  a  group  of  representative  citizens  to  study 
some  local  or  immediate  condition  or  problem  such  as 
unemployment,  bad  or  insufficient  housing,  food  supply, 
threatened  epidemics,  etc.,  and  act  upon  their  recom- 
mendations to  good  effect.  A  city  government  which 
does  not  keep  in  close  touch  with  its  better  citizenship 
and  call  upon  it  for  aid  and  advice  when  occasion 
offers,  is  neglecting  one  of  its  chief  opportunities  for 
substantial  service. 


CHAPTER  V 

DUTIES   OF   OFFICERS 

The  Mayor. — Mayors  are  the  figureheads  of 
American  city  government.  Whatever  their  legal 
powers,  however  limited  their  actual  authority,  they 
are  looked  upon  by  many  citizens  as  omnipotent  in  all 
phases  of  human  difficulties  and  relationships.  If  the 
street  light  goes  out,  if  the  water  tap  fails  to  deliver, 
if  the  grocer  refuses  credit,  if  the  expected  remittance 
fails  to  arrive,  the  mayor  is  advised,  consulted,  and 
sometimes  abused  if  he  does  not  correct  the  trouble. 
He  must  be  ready  to  welcome  excursions  and  distin- 
guished visitors  to  the  city  conventions,  with  a  few  ap- 
propriate words  and  an  engaging  smile ;  his  office  door 
must  swing  open  to  the  humblest  citizen  upon  the  most 
trivial  errand.  Whatever  his  powers  under  the  charter, 
his  obligations  transcend  them.  He  must  bear  on  his 
shoulders  the  blame  for  conditions  which  he  has  no 
power  to  remedy  and  for  which  he  is  in  no  way  re- 
sponsible. 

The  legally  imposed  duties  of  the  mayor  depend,  of 
course,  upon  the  form  of  city  government  and  the  pro- 
visions of  the  charter  and  laws.  In  most  states  he  is 
required,  under  state  laws,  to  preserve  the  peace  and 

may,  in  times  of  public  disturbance,  call  upon  the 

91 


92  DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 

governor  for  aid,  or,  through  the  governor,  upon  v«ic 
armed  forces  of  the  nation.  Under  the  responsible 
executive  form  of  government  he  is  the  real  head  of 
the  city  and  possesses  great  power  and  responsibility. 
The  Cleveland  charter  of  1913  outlines  his  powers  and 
duties  thus:  "It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  mayor  to 
act  as  chief  conservator  of  the  peace  within  the  city; 
to  supervise  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the 
city;  to  see  that  all  ordinances  of  the  city  are  enforced; 
to  recommend  to  the  council  for  adoption  such  meas- 
ures as  he  may  deem  necessary  or  expedient;  to  keep 
the  council  advised  of  the  financial  condition  and  future 
needs  of  the  city;  to  prepare  and  submit  to  the  council 
such  reports  as  may  be  required  by  that  body,  and  to 
exercise  such  powers  and  perform  such  duties  as  are 
conferred  or  required  by  this  charter  or  by  the  laws 
of  the  state." 

Under  commission  and  city  manager  charters  the 
mayor's  position  is  quite  different.  He  is  often  ap- 
pointed by  his  associates  upon  the  commission  or  coun- 
cil, but  even  when  elected  his  power  is  very  limited. 
He  is  the  representative  of  the  city  upon  whom  legal 
processes  are  served  and  he  is  its  ceremonial  head. 
Beyond  these  functions,  which  are  required  under  the 
state  laws,  he  has  little  authority  over  and  above  that 
of  any  member  of  the  council.  In  commission  cities  he 
has  only  the  same  authority  over  the  administrative 
department  to  which  he  has  been  assigned  or  elected, 
as  have  the  other  commissioners  in  their  departments. 
Except  in  the  large  cities,  he  is  usually  the  chairman 


DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS  93 

of  the  city  council.  He  votes  with  the  other  commis- 
sioners and  has  no  veto  power.  The  Sacramento  char- 
ter, after  outlining  his  simple  duties,  says,  "but  this 
shall  not  be  construed  as  conferring  upon  him  adminis- 
trative or  judicial  functions  or  other  powers  or  func- 
tions of  a  mayor,  under  the  general  laws  of  the  state," 
and  he  is  under  the  same  prohibition  as  are  his  asso- 
ciates in  the  council  against  interfering  with  the  execu- 
tive powers  of  the  city  manager.  He  must  not  "dic- 
tate or  attempt  to  dictate,  either  directly  or  indirectly, 
the  appointment  of  any  person  to  office  or  employment 
by  the  city  manager  or  prevent  him  from  exercising  his 
own  judgment  in  the  appointment  of  officers  and  em- 
ployees in  the  administrative  service." 

The  city  of  Seattle  in  the  year  1914  elected  a  free- 
holders commission  which  prepared  a  proposed  new 
charter  containing  some  unique  provisions  regarding  the 
duties  of  the  mayor.  This  charter  was  defeated  by  the 
people,  but  its  provisions  are  worthy  of  our  considera- 
tion. Seattle  had  been  strongly  divided  upon  moral 
issues,  and  the  administration  had  been  severely  criti- 
cized. It  was  the  day  of  the  open  saloon,  and  brothels 
and  dives  had  been  allowed  to  flourish,  although  con- 
trary to  state  laws.  The  new  charter  provided  for  a 
council  of  thirty  members,  each  elected  from  a  small 
district,  for  a  mayor  elected  at  large,  and  for  a  city 
manager  appointed  by  the  council.  Nominations  were 
to  be  by  petition,  and  elections  by  the  preferential  sys- 
tem. The  principles  of  the  short  ballot  were  adopted, 
each  citizen  voting  for  but  two  officers,  the  mayor  and 


94  DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 

the  councilman  from  his  own  district.  The  initiative, 
referendum  and  recall  were  provided  for.  The  city 
council  was  given  the  power  to  remove  the  mayor  or 
any  of  its  own  members  for  wilful  violation  of  duty, 
by  a  two-thirds  vote. 

The  city  manager  had  full  executive  charge  of  all 
departments  excepting  the  police,  and  his  salary  was 
fixed  at  $12,000  per  year.  The  mayor  had  a  two- 
years  term,  received  a  salary  of  $5,000  and  had  sole 
charge  of  the  police  department.  He  was  to  be  not 
only  the  official  and  ceremonial  head  of  the  city,  as  is 
the  usual  condition  under  a  city  manager  charter,  but 
he  also  was  to  "be  the  head  of  the  police  department 
and  maintain  peace  and  good  order  in  the  city."  This 
arrangement  was  new  in  the  administration  of  Ameri- 
can cities.  The  government  had  a  dual  head,  but  the 
duties  and  responsibilities  of  the  two  officials  were 
sharply  defined.  The  administration  of  moral  con- 
ditions was  to  be  in  the  hands  of  an  official  elected  by 
and  directly  responsible  to  the  people,  the  mayor,  while 
other  functions  were  to  be  administered  by  the  city 
manager,  whose  responsibility  was  through  the  city 
council.  Considering  the  moral  conditions  in  Seattle, 
in  which,  indeed,  that  city  did  not  so  much  differ  from 
many  of  the  larger  cities  of  the  country,  the  proposal 
was  most  interesting  and  its  workings  would  have  been 
watched  by  students  of  municipal  government  with  the 
closest  attention,  had  the  charter  met  with  the  favor  of 
the  people  of  the  city. 

The  Auditor. — An  adequate  and  informative  ac- 


DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS  95 

counting  system  is  a  prime  requisite  of  good  city 
administration,  and  the  official  at  the  head  of  this 
department  is  called  the  auditor  or  the  comptroller. 
He  is  sometimes  elected  by  the  people,  but  a  much 
better  plan  is  to  have  him  appointed  by  the  city  council, 
even  under  the  city  manager  system.  His  real  author- 
ity should  come  from  the  council,  as  the  information 
which  it  is  his  duty  to  furnish  is  first  for  its  members 
and  next,  through  them,  to  the  people  of  the  city.  Not 
that  we  as  citizens  pay  much  attention  to  the  public 
business,  but  the  books  must  show  to  the  occasional 
inquirer  the  financial  condition  of  the  city  in  sufficient 
detail  and  segregation  to  enable  him  to  form  some 
judgment  as  to  its  general  solvency,  the  present  con- 
dition of  its  departments  and  undertakings,  its  reve- 
nues, expenditures  and  financial  obligations,  and  to  give 
him  the  basis  for  such  comparisons  as  may  illustrate 
its  efficiency  or  its  incapacity,  as  the  case  may  be. 

Modern  charters  usually  require  that  the  auditor  be 
a  certified  public  accountant  or  a  person  of  long  expe- 
rience in  his  line  of  work.  He  is  given  general  author- 
ity over  the  city's  bookkeeping,  he  must  examine  the 
accounts  and  bills  against  the  city  to  see  that  only  those 
authorized  are  paid,  and  he  assembles  the  departments' 
budget  estimates  and  presents  them  to  the  city  manager 
or  the  city  council  for  consideration.  Systems  of 
accounting  for  municipalities  are  frequently  established 
by  state  laws  or  are  under  the  authority  of  a  state 
board  which  through  its  agents  and  employees  inspects 
and  supervises  the  public  accounting.  Uniform  ac- 


96  DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 

counting,  not  only  for  the  municipality  itself  but  for 
all  its  undertakings  and  utilities,  is  absolutely  essential 
for  constructive  comparisons  with  like  activities  in 
other  cities.  We  want  to  know  what  other  cities  are 
doing,  how  they  are  doing  it  and  with  what  tangible 
results,  and  we  want  this  information  in  a  form  which 
does  not  require  an  interpreter  to  make  it  understand- 
able by  the  ordinary  citizen  or  city  councilman.  The 
auditor's  job  is  to  obtain  and  furnish  this  information. 

It  is  the  custom  in  many  large  private  undertakings 
to  have  an  audit  of  the  books  at  least  once  a  year  by 
an  outside  expert  accountant,  and  this  procedure  is  even 
more  necessary  in  our  public  business.  Many  modern 
charters  require  it.  In  some  states  a  state  bureau  of 
inspection  furnishes  this  audit,  but  no  city  should  neg- 
lect it,  whether  or  not  it  is  required  by  state  laws. 
Disclosures  of  such  an  audit  frequently  reveal  discrep- 
ancies and  irregularities  which  demand  attention  and 
change;  they  occasionally  disclose  dishonesty,  and 
always  repay  their  cost  in  the  satisfaction  to  officials 
and  citizens  which  comes  from  exact  knowledge  of 
financial  conditions.  The  Dayton  charter  requires  a 
continuous  audit  to  be  made  "by  one  or  more  certified 
public  accountants  who,  for  three  years  next  preceding, 
have  held  a  certificate  issued  by  the  state  board  of 
accountancy  of  Ohio  or  by  a  state  maintaining  an  equal 
standard  of  professional  requirements."  The  division 
of  accounting  is,  in  that  city,  under  the  director  of 
finance. 

The  Treasurer. — The  man  in  charge  of  the  city's 


DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS  97 

finances,  whether  he  be  called  commissioner  of  finance 
or  city  treasurer,  has  a  grave  responsibility,  and  unless 
he  be  competent  the  city's  business  suffers.  Under  the 
older  forms  of  government  it  has  been  the  practice  to 
elect  the  treasurer  and  it  often  happens  that  the  posi- 
tion is  filled  by  some  broken-down  business  man  who, 
by  the  practice  of  personal  rectitude  has  earned  the 
sobriquet  of  "Honest  John"  or  "Honest  Bill."  His 
election  is  brought  about  not  so  much  because  of  his 
capacity  for  this  most  important  position  as  for  his 
personal  affability  and  large  acquaintance.  He  must 
have  such  standing  in  the  community  as  will  enable  him 
to  get  the  large  bond  which  is  always  required,  but  as 
his  friendship  is  valuable  to  the  local  bankers,  this  is 
seldom  difficult.  Under  the  newer  charters  the  city 
treasurer  is  appointed  and  it  is  now  quite  common  to 
require  experience  in  financial  operations  and  practices 
in  the  appointee.  His  duties  are  outlined  in  most  city 
charters,  but  usually  in  a  vague  manner  which  omits 
his  most  necessary  qualifications.  Almost  anyone  can 
carry  the  keys  of  the  vault,  but  the  ability  necessary  for 
the  management  of  the  financial  affairs  of  the  city  and 
the  capacity  to  advise  the  council  on  the  intricate  and 
vital  details  of  financial  policy  are  not  so  common. 

The  makers  of  the  Sacramento  charter  had  an  inkling 
of  the  importance  of  the  city  treasurer.  They  define 
his  duties  as  follows :  "It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  city 
treasurer  to  receive  and  keep  all  moneys  that  shall  come 
to  the  city  by  taxation  or  otherwise,  and  to  pay  out 
the  same  in  payment  of  the  principal  and  interest  of 


98  DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 

the  outstanding  bonds  of  the  city  or  on  demands  audited 
in  the  manner  provided  by  law.  He  shall  perform  such 
other  duties  as  may  be  prescribed  by  this  charter,  by 
general  law,  or  by  ordinance.  The  city  treasurer  shall 
have  the  power  and  it  shall  be  his  duty  to  transmit  under 
proper  safeguards  to  any  bank  or  banking  company  in 
the  city  in  which  any  of  the  outstanding  bonds  are 
payable,  sufficient  funds  to  meet  any  payments  on  said 
bonds  and  the  interest  thereon  when  the  same  shall 
become  due."  The  Dayton  charter  includes,  as  among 
the  duties  of  the  treasurer,  "the  purchase,  storage  and 
distribution  of  supplies  needed  by  the  various  depart- 
ments," a  function  which  does  not  belong  to  him  unless 
he  is,  ex  officio,  the  city's  purchasing  agent. 

The  treasurer  of  a  city  should  be  a  financier  of  expe- 
rience and  ability.  He  must  be  able  to  outline  and  carry 
out,  under  the  instructions  of  the  city  council,  the  poli- 
cies of  a  large  financial  undertaking  with  diverse  inter- 
ests and  operations,  the  money  for  which  must  come 
largely  from  the  purses  of  the  citizens  in  the  way  of 
taxation.  He  should  be  familiar  with  the  theory  and 
practice  of  taxation  and  be  able  to  recommend  the  least 
burdensome  and  most  equitable  methods  of  raising  the 
municipal  revenue.  He  must  distribute  the  surplus 
funds  of  the  city  in  investments  or  deposits  which  com- 
bine absolute  safety  with  the  best  earning  power,  and 
must  invest  sinking  funds  where  they  will,  with  their 
increase,  be  available  when  required  to  meet  their  spe- 
cific obligations.  He  should  be  active  and  persistent  in 
collecting  fees,  licenses  and  dues;  he  should  prepare  in 


DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS  99 

time  to  meet  the  future  bonds  and  other  obligations  of 
the  city  and  must  be  in  position  to  consider  the  financial 
requirements  of  all  of  the  council's  proposals  and  keep 
its  members  informed  of  the  financial  consequences  of 
their  actions. 

Every  head  of  a  department  is  entitled  to  his  advice 
and  counsel  in  financial  matters,  and  his  judgment 
should  be  influential  in  determining  their  policy. 
Municipal  utilities  are  just  as  much  in  neecl  of  careful 
financial  management  as  are  those  in  private  control, 
but  the  looseness  of  their  important  operations  is  pro- 
verbial. Some  cities  carry  great  burdens  in  floating 
debts  which  might  be  funded  to  great  advantage. 
Others  must  continually  borrow  on  short-time  obliga- 
tions in  anticipation  of  tax  collections.  These  and 
other  like  problems  demand  for  their  satisfactory  solu- 
tion the  very  best  financial  ability  and  acumen,  and 
unless  these  qualities  are  found  in  the  city  treasurer 
they  are  likely  to  be  entirely  lacking. 

In  1910  Spokane  was  carrying  a  floating  debt  of  a 
million  dollars  on  the  municipal  water  works.  The 
warrants  covering  this  debt  bore  eight  per  cent  interest 
and  as  the  annual  revenue  was  little  over  $400,000, 
holders  of  current  warrants  did  not  expect  their  redemp- 
tion in  less  than  two  or  three  years.  Those  who  fur- 
nished supplies  must  take  their  pay  in  warrants,  and 
in  addition  to  paying  the  excessive  interest,  the  city 
was  obliged  to  pay  exorbitant  prices,  from  ten  to 
twenty-five  per  cent  above  current  market  values. 
The  solution  was  found  in  a  twenty-year  serial  bond 


100  DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 

issue  floated  at  less  than  five  per  cent  interest.  Mem- 
bers of  the  city  council  which  created  this  debt  stated 
later  that  they  did  not  know  the  amount  of  the  obliga- 
tions they  were  authorizing  and  had  no  notion  of  the 
consequences  of  their  action.  A  competent  city  treas- 
urer would  have  kept  them  advised. 

The  Aldermen.  —  Few  charters  prescribe  the 
duties  of  members  of  city  councils  or  administrative 
boards.  They  are  supposed  to  be  the  delegates  of  the 
people  and  in  general  charge  of  public  policies  and  ac- 
tivities, and  because  they  are  so  delegated,  they  need 
a  concentration  of  knowledge  of  the  public  business  as 
well  as  a  concentration  of  numbers.  A  common  ob- 
session in  America  is  that  any  man  can  run  a  news- 
paper, a  mine  or  a  city  government.  The  fact  is  that 
to  be  a  useful  member  of  a  city  council  a  man  must 
possess  more  and  broader  capabilities  than  are  required 
for  success  in  any  private  business.  In  the  mod- 
ern forms  of  city  government,  where  councils  are 
closely  limited  to  legislative  functions,  it  is  not  so 
necessary  that  an  alderman  shall  be  competent  in  the 
details  of  public  works;  for  these  he  employs  an 
expert.  But  there  is  a  requirement  for  knowledge  of 
the  broader  aspects  of  city  government,  and  a  wisdom 
and  judgment  which  will  enable  him  to  give  intelligent 
consideration  to  the  city's  needs  and  make  competent 
decisions  upon  them. 

And  as  we  are  requiring  more  and  more  of  govern- 
ment, the  demand  is  for  wider  and  fuller  knowledge  and 
understanding  of  human  needs  and  aspirations  on  the 


DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS  101 

part  of  those  who  represent  us  in  city  councils.  The 
ideal  city  of  the  future  will  not  limit  its  activities  to 
the  protection  of  life  and  property  and  the  physical 
public  works  of  the  community ;  it  will  be  active  in  the 
broader  fields  of  correctional,  educational,  social  and 
spiritual  welfare,  and  its  chief  object  will  be  the  build- 
ing of  a  better  environment  and  a  better  citizenship. 

Departmental  Heads. — The  size  of  the  govern- 
mental organization  in  a  well-administered  city  will 
depend  upon  its  population  and  the  extent  and  impor- 
tance of  its  activities.  In  small  towns  which  are  not 
growing  rapidly  a  city  manager  must  be  versatile 
enough  to  perform  the  duties  of  departmental  manage- 
ment and  utility  superintendence,  or  if  there  is  no 
manager,  then  the  necessary  services  may  often  be 
secured  on  a  part-time  basis.  In  the  larger  cities  the 
work  is  subdivided  into  such  departments  as  the  char- 
ter or  ordinances  may  require.  That  city  is  fortunate 
in  which  the  organization  is  wisely  built  upon  the  needs 
of  the  service  and  not  upon  the  basis  of  political 
expediency. 

The  usual  departments  of  a  city  of  50,000  to 
100,000  population  will  be :  works,  with  its  subdivision 
of  streets  and  sewers;  utilities,  each  enterprise  having 
its  own  superintendent;  safety,  containing  police  and 
fire  departments  and  the  inspection  of  plumbing,  build- 
ing and  electric  wiring;  welfare,  including  health, 
charities,  food  inspection  and  garbage  disposal;  and 
finance  and  accounting.  If  the  city  is  a  port,  its  docks 
and  terminals  may  be  under  the  department  of  works 


102  DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 

or  utilities;  if  there  are  many  bridges  they  will  be 
attended  to  by  a  subdivision  of  the  works  department. 
This  outline  presupposes  that  parks  and  playgrounds, 
libraries  and  schools  are  administered  by  boards  or 
commissions. 

The  qualifications  for  heads  of  departments  are 
honesty,  capacity  and  some  knowledge  of,  and  expe- 
rience in,  their  several  occupations.  In  Dayton,  public 
works  and  utilities  are  combined  in  a  Department  of 
Public  Service;  in  Sacramento,  works  and  utilities  are 
subdivisions  of  a  Department  of  Engineering.  In  the 
Model  Charter  of  the  National  Municipal  League  six 
departments  are  provided  for,  viz.,  law,  health,  works 
and  utilities,  safety  and  welfare,  education,  and 
finance,  with  these  requirements  of  the  personnel : 
"The  director  of  the  department  of  law  shall  be  a  law- 
yer; of  health,  a  sanitary  engineer  or  a  member  of  the 
medical  profession;  of  works,  an  engineer;  of  educa- 
tion, a  teacher  by  profession;  of  safety  and  welfare,  a 
man  who  has  had  administrative  experience;  and  of 
finance,  a  man  who  has  had  experience  in  banking, 
accounting  or  other  financial  matters;  or  in  each  case 
the  man  must  have  rendered  active  service  in  the  same 
department  in  this  or  some  other  city." 

The  Dayton  charter  thus  defines  the  duty  of  the 
director  of  public  service :  "Subject  to  the  supervision 
and  control  of  the  city  manager  in  all  matters,  the 
director  of  public  service  shall  manage  and  have  charge 
of  the  construction,  improvement,  repair  and  mainte- 
nance of  streets,  sidewalks,  alleys,  lanes,  bridges,  via- 


DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS  103 

ducts  and  other  public  highways;  of  sewers,  drains, 
ditches,  culverts,  canals,  streams  and  watercourses; 
of  all  public  buildings;  of  boulevards,  squares 
and  other  public  places  and  grounds  belonging 
to  the  city  or  dedicated  to  public  use,  except  parks  and 
playgrounds.  He  shall  manage  market  houses,  sewage 
disposal  plants  and  farms,  and  all  public  utilities  of  the 
city.  He  shall  have  charge  of  the  enforcement  of  all 
the  obligations  of  privately  owned  or  operated  public 
utilities  enforceable  by  the  city.  He  shall  have  charge 
of  the  making  and  preservation  of  all  surveys,  maps, 
plans,  drawings  and  estimates  for  such  public  work; 
the  cleaning,  sprinkling  and  lighting  of  streets  and 
public  places ;  the  collection  and  disposal  of  waste ;  the 
preservation  of  contracts,  papers,  plans,  tools  and 
appliances  belonging  to  the  city  and  pertaining  to  the 
department." 

These  segregations  are  arbitrary  and  differ  in  nearly 
every  city.  In  Spokane  the  public  buildings  are  man- 
aged by  the  department  of  public  affairs,  which  also  has 
charge  of  health,  inspection  of  weights  and  measures, 
food  inspection,  markets,  garbage  disposal  and  the 
municipal  testing  laboratory.  The  management  of 
utilities,  both  public  and  private,  and  of  street  lighting 
are  in  charge  of  the  department  of  public  utilities ;  and 
the  care  and  preservation  of  contracts,  papers,  and  plans 
which  have  been  approved  by  the  city  council  is  one 
of  the  duties  of  the  city  clerk.  The  Springfield,  Ohio, 
charter,  in  providing  the  duties  and  qualifications  of 
department  heads,  is  strong  on  the  negative  rather  than 


104  DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 

the  constructive  side:  "No  member  of  the  city  com- 
mission, the  city  manager,  or  any  other  officer  or  em- 
ployee of  the  city,  shall  be  directly  or  indirectly  inter- 
ested in  any  contract,  job,  work  or  service  with  or  for 
the  city ;  nor  in  the  profits  or  emoluments  thereof,  nor 
in  the  expenditure  of  any  money  on  the  part  of  the 
city  other  than  his  fixed  compensation;  and  any  con- 
tract with  the  city  in  which  any  such  officer  or  employee 
is,  or  becomes,  interested  may  be  declared  void  by  the 
city  commission."  Under  penalty  of  dismissal  and 
punishment  by  a  fine  not  exceeding  $100,  officials  and 
employees  are  forbidden  to  accept  gifts  or  passes,  or  to 
"take  any  active  part  in  securing,  or  contribute  any 
money  toward,  the  nomination  or  election  of  any  can- 
didate or  candidates  for  the  office  of  city  commissioner, 
excepting  to  answer  such  questions  as  may  be  put  to 
him  and  as  he  may  desire  to  answer." 

Most  charters  might  well  be  abbreviated  in  the  sec- 
tions defining  the  duties  of  employees  from  top  to  bot- 
tom of  the  city's  pay-rolls,  by  providing  that  they 
perform  such  duties  as  may  from  time  to  time  be  re- 
quired of  them  by  the  city  council  and  their  superiors, 
and  leaving  the  more  specific  requirements  and  prohi- 
bitions to  legislation,  orders  of  department  heads  and 
rules  of  the  civil  service  commission. 

The  City  Engineer. — There  are  few  city  officials 
who  can  do  more  permanent  harm  or  more  constructive 
service  to  a  city  than  the  city  engineer.  The  members 
of  the  city  council,  generally  unskilled  in  engineering 
problems,  must  often  blindly  follow  his  lead  in  matters 


DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS  105 

of  great  and  enduring  importance.  He  may  err  expen- 
sively in  a  thousand  matters  of  serious  import  or  he  may 
compass  great  economies  and  lasting  benefits.  Good 
judgment  and  a  vision  of  the  city  of  the  future  are 
absolutely  necessary  in  him  in  addition  to  his  technical 
equipment.  When  he  prepares  a  plan  for  a  new  street 
and  presents  it  to  the  city  council  for  approval,  he  has 
the  power  to  make  or  mar  the  civic  structure  for  all 
time.  Problems  of  location  and  connections,  gradient, 
drainage,  surface  contour,  material,  width  of  roadway 
and  sidewalks,  intersections,  pavement,  lighting,  and 
provision  for  underground  structures  are  intensely 
technical  problems,  upon  the  solution  of  which  the  city 
council  cannot  be  expected  to  be  competent.  A  change 
in  grade  may  involve  the  city  in  costly  litigation ;  a  hump 
or  depression  in  a  street  may  be  cheaper  now  but  vastly 
more  expensive  as  the  city  grows. 

These  and  the  other  problems  of  city  building  on  the 
technical  side  require  the  highest  qualifications  in  a 
city  engineer.  His  is  the  last  position  in  city  employ- 
ment for  which  a  city  should  look  for  a  cheap  man,  and 
considering  the  rewards  for  a  competent  engineer  in 
private  employment,  his  salary  should  be  one  of  the 
highest  paid  by  the  city.  Flint,  Michigan,  a  city  of 
over  100,000  population  which  had  a  remarkable 
growth  in  the  decade  of  1910-1920,  has  laid  over  sixty 
miles  of  pavement  by  day  labor  under  the  supervision 
of  the  city  engineer,  and  the  work  was  well  done  and 
at  a  remarkable  low  cost.  This  would  be  a  dangerous 
experiment  in  some  of  our  larger  cities,  in  which  a 


106  DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 

condition  often  exists  which  has  been  described  in 
relation  to  Philadelphia  as  "corrupt  and  contented." 
The  success  of  the  undertaking  in  Flint  is  easily  ex- 
plained. It  has  had  an  honest  and  capable  government 
and  a  city  engineer  who  could  be  neither  "bulldozed, 
bamboozled  nor  bought." 

The  City  Chemist. — One  of  the  most  frequently 
neglected  sources  of  municipal  profit  and  economy  is 
the  city  chemist  and  his  testing  laboratory;  there  is 
scarcely  a  municipal  undertaking  which  is  not  accom- 
plished in  a  more  economical  and  more  satisfactory 
manner  by  reason  of  his  work.  Perhaps  no  other  invest- 
ment which  a  city  can  make  will  yield  a  more  immediate 
and  profitable  return  than  the  purchase  of  the  neces- 
sary laboratory  equipment  and  the  employment  of  a 
chemist.  The  testing  laboratory  in  Spokane  costs  about 
four  thousand  dollars  a  year.  One  of  its  first  accom- 
plishments was  the  improvement  of  the  quality  of  the 
city's  gas  supply.  Its  heating  power  was  raised  not 
less  than  twenty  per  cent,  thus  increasing  its  value  to 
the  gas  consumers  of  the  city  by  at  least  $50,000  a  year. 
The  services  of  the  city  chemist  should  be  available  to 
every  department  of  the  city's  work,  and  the  laboratory 
may  be  properly  administered  through  the  health  de- 
partment, or  under  the  city  engineer,  or  jointly  by  these 
two  departments.  The  chemist's  duties  are  largely  in 
the  line  of  analytical  work,  but  microscopy  and  bacte- 
riology are  important  functions.  To  be  most  useful 
to  the  city  he  must  not  only  be  trained  and  experienced 
in  general  analysis,  identification  and  bacteriology,  but 


DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS  107 

he  must  possess  the  ingenuity  and  resourcefulness  which 
are  required  to  solve  the  new  problems  continually 
coming  up. 

Cities  have,  until  quite  recently,  bought  supplies  of 
all  sorts  without  much  knowledge  of  their  quality;  the 
new  method  is  to  test  everything  capable  of  being  tested 
before  purchase.  Every  lot  of  asphalt  and  cement 
which  goes  into  pavements,  every  barrel  of  paint  or 
lubricant,  every  shipment  of  paving  brick,  every  pur- 
chase of  engineering  materials  of  all  sorts  is  subjected 
to  searching  examination  by  the  chemist  to  see  that 
it  conforms  to  the  specifications  under  which  it  is 
purchased.  The  word  "paint"  is  probably  the  most 
elastic  term  known  to  the  world  of  trade.  To  the  lay 
mind  it  conveys  the  impression  of  an  intimate  mixture 
of  white  lead  and  linseed  oil,  but  it  frequently  contains 
neither  and,  indeed,  it  may  answer  for  some  purposes 
without  these  constituents.  But  the  label  on  the  can 
shyly  avoids  cataloging  the  materials  to  be  found  within 
it,  and  if  a  city  buys  it  on  the  label  the  quality  may  not 
show  itself  until  the  paint  has  been  exposed  to  the 
weather  for  a  few  months.  The  loss  includes  not  only 
the  worthless  material  but  also  the  good  labor  used  in 
its  application.  A  little  investigation  by  the  city 
chemist  may  easily  save  a  large  amount  of  labor  and 
of  money. 

But  the  most  valuable  work  of  the  city  chemist  can- 
not be  measured  by  its  cost  in  money.  His  most  impor- 
tant duties  are  his  work  for  the  health  department  in 
the  testing  of  milk  and  other  foods,  the  analysis  of. 


108  DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 

water  and  sewage,  the  microscopic  examination  of  cul- 
tures and  smears  for  pathological  evidence,  and  in  gen- 
eral bacteriological  investigations.  His  services  are  of 
special  value  to  the  police  department,  where  a  court 
conviction  frequently  depends  upon  the  percentage  of 
alcohol  in  a  beverage  or  the  presence  or  absence  of 
poison  in  some  suspected  substance. 

The  Purchasing  Agent. — One  of  the  most  fre- 
quent leaks  in  city  finances  is  through  the  purchase  of 
supplies.  No  city,  large  or  small,  can  afford  to  allow 
the  employees  of  each  department  or  every  foreman  to 
buy  supplies  independently.  The  purchasing  agent  is 
just  as  necessary  and  economical  a  functionary  in  city 
business  as  in  large  private  undertakings.  If  the  vol- 
ume of  purchases  does  not  justify  the  employment  of 
a  purchasing  agent  on  full  time,  an  official  with  other 
work  should  be  designated  for  this  duty,  and  his  exclu- 
siveness  in  buying  most  carefully  guarded.  It  will 
surely  follow  that  the  city  will  buy  at  lower  prices, 
goods  bought  will  be  accounted  for  and  time  will  be 
saved,  not  only  that  of  city  employees  but  of  the  mer- 
chants of  whom  purchases  are  made.  The  purchasing 
agent  should  be  responsible  for  goods  bought,  until 
they  are  in  the  hands  of  the  department  or  crew  which 
uses  them,  and  all  checking  of  goods  received  and 
authorization  of  payment  for  them  should  come  to 
the  city  auditor  through  him.  He  should  have  sole 
charge  of  the  city's  stores  and  be  responsible  for  all 
supplies  on  hand  and  for  their  issuance  when  needed. 

Most  modern  charters  require  bids  to  be  submitted 


DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS  109 

and  considered  in  open  session  of  the  city  council  or 
other  official  body  when  the  amount  of  the  purchase  is 
in  excess  of  a  certain  sum,  making  provision  for  emer- 
gencies when  the  time  required  for  advertising  for  bids 
would  cause  expensive  or  dangerous  delay.  This  emer- 
gency clause  is  frequently  overworked,  but  if  the  city 
has  a  real  purchasing  agent  he  will  usually  get  as  good 
(and  sometimes  better)  prices  over  the  telephone  as 
would  have  been  submitted  in  writing,  and  no  damage 
is  done.  Emergency  purchasing  in  the  hands  of  all 
employees  and  officials  is  a  temptation  to  dishonesty 
and  is  always  wasteful. 

The  purchasing  agent  must  be  above  the  temptation 
to  bribery,  large  and  small.  He  should  know  the  value 
of  buying  in  bulk  in  advance  of  the  city's  needs,  but  his 
good  sense  and  the  authority  of  the  city  council  behind 
him  should  prevent  overloading  his  stocks  with  exces- 
sive quantities.  He  must  know  qualities  and  must 
watch  markets.  The  city  chemist  is  his  most  valuable 
ally.  The  Grand  Rapids  charter  (1917)  contains  a 
comprehensive  outline  of  his  duties: 

"  (a)  The  city  purchasing  agent  shall  make  purchases 
of  all  supplies  needed  by  the  city  and  shall  approve  in 
writing  all  vouchers  for  the  payment  of  the  same  when 
he  is  satisfied  delivery  of  such  supplies  has  been  made 
in  accordance  with  the  specifications  and  contract. 

"(&)  He  shall  conduct  all  sales  of  personal  property 
which  the  city  commission  may  authorize  to  be  sold. 

"(c)  He  shall  require  annually  or  oftener  from  each 
officer  or  department  a  written  requisition  for  the  quan- 


110  DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 

tity  and  kind  of  supplies  needed  by  them,  which  requi- 
sition must  be  approved  by  the  city  manager. 

"(rf)  Before  making  any  purchase  or  sales  involving 
more  than  $100,  opportunity  shall  be  given  for  compe- 
tition. All  proposals  shall  be  upon  identical  specifica- 
tions and  under  such  rules  and  regulations  as  the  city 
commission  shall  establish.  No  purchase  or  sale  shall 
be  made  unless  approved  in  writing  by  the  city  manager 
or  his  deputy.  In  emergency  cases  a  purchase  may  be 
made  at  a  price  and  in  quantity  approved,  in  writing, 
by  a  majority  of  the  city  commission  and  by  the  city 
manager. 

"(e)  He  shall  have  charge  of  and  be  responsible  for 
any  storeroom  or  storehouse  provided  for  by  the  city 
commission  and  of  all  supplies  and  materials  stored 
therein. 

"(/)  No  purchase  of  supplies  or  materials  shall  be 
made  for  any  department  or  office  until  the  city  comp- 
troller has  certified  that  there  is  money  in  a  proper 
fund  of  such  department  or  office  available  for  the  pay- 
ment of  such  purchase." 

Utility  Managers. — About  three-fourths  of  the 
city  water  works  in  America  are  owned  and  operated 
by  municipalities,  and  other  public  utilities  are  so  owned 
in  lesser  proportion.  There  are  over  two  thousand 
municipal  electric  lighting  plants  now  publicly  owned 
and  operated,  and  there  is  no  public  utility  which  is 
not,  in  some  American  city,  under  municipal  operation. 
In  the  control  of  the  utilities  which  serve  the  city  there 
are  two  distinct  phases:  first,  the  operation  of  those 


DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS  111 

which  the  city  owns ;  and,  secondly,  the  supervision  of 
those  which  are  privately  owned  and  operated  under 
franchises  granted  by  the  city  council  or  the  state  legis- 
lature. This  control  and  supervision  requires  for  its 
best  results  a  high  type  of  expert  service  from  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  city  government.  General  policies 
of  utility  management  will  be  more  fully  treated  in  the 
chapter  on  administration ;  we  now  consider  the  neces- 
sary qualifications  and  the  duties  of  the  officers  who 
have  immediate  management  of  these  vital  undertak- 
ings, and  their  relationship  to  their  city  councils  and 
superior  officials. 

Authority  and  responsibility  for  utility  operations 
ordinarily  comes  from  the  electorate  to  the  city  council, 
thence  through  city  manager  or  department  head  to  the 
manager  or  superintendent  of  the  plant.  The  latter  is 
very  seldom  elected.  His  appointment  is  for  an  indefi- 
nite term.  He  usually  has  little  to  do  with  general  or 
financial  policies  but  is  responsible  for  the  physical  oper- 
ations of  the  plant  and  for  its  contact  with  its  patrons. 
He  must  be  an  expert  in  his  calling.  His  first  require- 
ment is  technical  knowledge  and  ability  in  the  particular 
utility  which  he  is  operating.  If  it  is  a  water-works, 
he  should  know  the  fundamental  requirements  of  city 
water  supply,  quality,  continuity,  quantity  and  pressure ; 
he  must  be  familiar  with  sources,  impounding,  trans- 
mission, storage  and  distribution;  he  must  understand 
pumping,  filtration  and  purification,  and  he  must  be 
efficient  in  all  the  details  of  construction  and  operation. 
If  it  is  a  gas  works,  an  electric  lighting  plant  or  a  street 


112  DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 

railway,  a  like  intimate  knowledge  of  detail  is  required 
in  matters  of  construction,  operation  and  service. 

The  ability  to  handle  men  is  one  of  his  chief  require- 
ments, for  unless  he  can  establish  harmonious  coopera- 
tion in  his  organization  and  instil  a  sense  of  loyalty 
in  his  subordinates,  he  will  not  be  efficient  or  successful. 
And  the  personal  equation  is  often  complicated  in  city 
work  by  restrictions  and  rules  of  employment  which 
managers  of  private  plants  know  nothing  about.  A 
mistaken  civil  service  law  or  the  importunities  of  politi- 
cal job-seekers  may  impose  conditions  upon  him  which 
fill  him  with  discouragement  and  hamper  every  con- 
structive effort.  When  a  politician  or  party  organiza- 
tion attempts  to  dictate  whom  he  shall  employ,  and  this 
often  happens  in  the  employment  of  his  assistants  in 
every  capacity,  down  to  the  laborers  who  dig  his  ditches, 
he  cannot  be  expected  to  do  good  work.  Capable  men 
will  not  endure  such  handicaps,  and  the  effect  of  such 
a  condition  is  often  seen  in  a  utility  manager  who  is 
nothing  but  a  political  heeler,  unfit  in  every  way  for 
the  responsible  duties  of  the  position  he  holds. 

Elected  officials,  even  those  of  questionable  ability 
and  motives,  will  frequently  employ  an  honest  and  com- 
petent utility  manager  because  they  understand  the  im- 
portance of  the  intimate  contact  of  such  a  man  with 
the  voters  of  the  city,  and  the  advantage  to  them  at 
election  time  of  satisfactory  utility  service.  An  ordinary 
law-abiding  citizen  does  not  usually  get  into  close  touch 
with  his  public  officials  if  everything  goes  smoothly  in 
his  relationship  with  the  government.  But  the  city's 


DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS  113 

utilities  touch  him  constantly  and  intimately  every  day 
of  his  life.  If  their  service  is  good  and  their  rates 
reasonable;  if  he  gets  courteous  attention  and  fair 
treatment  from  the  clerks  who  wait  upon  him  when 
he  goes  to  the  water  office  to  pay  his  monthly  bill ;  if  his 
complaints  are  few  and  promptly  attended  to  and  his 
water  never  fails  to  run  when  he  opens  a  faucet,  and 
his  gas  never  blows  out  the  match  with  which  he  is 
trying  to  light  it,  he  develops  a  satisfaction  with  the 
responsible  officials  of  the  city  which  means  a  vote  when 
they  are  again  up  for  election.  In  many  American  cities 
there  can  be  found  appointive  utility  managers  who, 
by  reason  of  their  real  ability  and  efficiency,  have  re- 
tained their  positions  through  many  political  upheavals, 
for  the  reason  that  scheming  politicians  were  wise 
enough  to  appreciate  the  political  usefulness  of  good 
utility  management  or  did  not  dare  to  displace  them 
and  appoint  a  partizan. 

'  The  proper  supervision  of  relationships  between 
privately  owned  utilities  and  their  patrons  and  the 
enforcement  of  their  obligations  to  the  city  under  their 
franchises  and  the  city  ordinances,  require  the  services 
of  a  special  official  or  organization  devoted  to  this  par- 
ticular purpose.  The  growing  practice  of  giving  cities 
some  measure  of  continuous  control  of  privately  owned 
utilities,  as  in  the  "service-at-cost"  street  railway  fran- 
chises now  common,  has  created  a  demand  for  utility 
experts  in  the  city's  employ,  charged  with  seeing  that 
good  service  is  maintained  and  franchise  obligations 
promptly  satisfied.  The  Dayton  charter  makes  it  the 


114  DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 

duty  of  the  director  of  public  service  to  "have  charge 
of  the  enforcement  of  all  the  obligations  of  privately 
owned  or  operated  public  utilities  enforceable  by  the 
city."  The  Model  Charter  of  the  National  Municipal 
League  has  the  following  excellent  provision: 

"There  shall  be  established  by  ordinance  a  bureau  of  fran- 
chises and  public  utilities,  at  the  head  of  which  shall  be  an  officer 
appointed  by  the  city  manager.  Such  officer  shall  be  an  expert 
in  franchise  and  public  utility  matters  and  he  shall  be  provided 
with  such  expert  and  other  assistance  as  is  necessary  to  enable 
him  to  perform  his  duties.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  such  officer 
and  bureau  to  investigate  and  report  on  all  proposed  ordinances 
relating  to  public  utilities,  to  exercise  a  diligent  oversight  over 
the  operation  of  all  public  utilities  operated  under  franchises,  to 
report  thereon  with  recommendations  to  the  city  manager,  to 
represent  the  city  in  all,  except  legal,  proceedings  before  any  state 
public  utilities  commission  involving  the  public  utilities  within 
the  city,  and  to  perform  such  other  duties  under  the  direction  of 
the  city  manager  as  may  be  prescribed  by  the  council." 

The  importance  of  this  function  of  city  government 
and  the  financial  and  other  losses  wliich  so  frequently 
result  from  its  neglect,  amply  justify  the  necessary  out- 
lay for  the  maintenance  of  such  an  official  or  bureau  in 
every  city  of  more  than  fifty  thousand  population. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    COUNCIL   AND    LEGISLATION 

Members  of  the  city  council  are  expected  to  possess 
or  acquire  a  general  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  city 
government  as  they  exist  in  theory  and  as  they  are 
worked  out  in  practice.     A  study  of  the  activities  of 
other  cities  will  furnish  examples  of  how  not  to  do 
things  as  well  as  how  to  do  them.     Councilmen  may 
have  been  elected  on  some  special  issue  which  is  of 
immediate  importance  to  their  group,  ward  or  district, 
or  to  the  city  as  a  whole,  or  because  they  are  Republi- 
cans, Democrats  or  Socialists;  but  when  the  local  or 
partizan  issue  is  disposed  of,  or  beyond  and  above  its 
continuing  demands  upon  them,  the  many  policies  of 
general  concern  must  be  given  attention,  and  the  coun- 
cilman's success  or  failure  will  depend  upon  the  intelli- 
gence he  shows  and  the  capacity  he  develops  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  wishes  of  his  constituents.     It  has 
often  been  said  that  a  city  gets  as  good  government  as 
its  people  deserve ;  but  it  often  happens  that  the  growth 
of  civic  righteousness  is  more  rapid  in  the  electorate 
than  in  the  government,  and  that  the  citizens  of  a 
community  become  lax  in  keeping  their  representatives 
informed   of    their    wishes    and    opinions    on    public 
matters. 

"5 


116       THE  COUNCIL  AND  LEGISLATION 

The  small  group  which  will  take  the  time  to  attend 
council  meetings  does  not  usually  represent  the  whole 
citizenship,  and  the  councilman  of  honor  and  capacity 
will  get  his  information  of  what  is  expected  of  him  by 
every  means  of  contact  with  his  fellow  citizens.  He 
must  develop  a  leadership  which  will  keep  them  advised 
of  civic  advancement  in  other  places,  he  must  talk  with 
them  and  to  them  on  the  issues  which  are  engaging  the 
attention  of  forward-looking  citizens  in  their  own  and 
other  cities  and  he  must  be  ready  to  discuss  and  explain 
his  own  actions  and  the  reasons  for  them.  He  should 
be  readily  accessible  to  those  citizens  who  have  the 
desire  to  talk  to  him  about  the  public  business,  without 
the  necessity  of  wasting  time  on  bores  and  malcontents. 

Council  Meetings. — Most  charters  require  that 
all  meetings  of  the  council  must  be  open  to  the  public, 
and  some  go  even  farther  than  this,  in  requiring  that 
all  sessions  of  the  committees  of  the  council  shall  be 
public.  This  has  often  been  construed  to  mean  that 
members  of  councils,  commissions  and  committees  are 
prohibited  from  having  any  private  conference  at  which 
any  phase  of  the  public  business  might  be  considered 
or  discussed.  Such  a  construction  is  wrong  as  well  as 
futile.  It  is  necessary  and  proper  that  any  meeting  of 
the  council  at  which  action  is  taken  on  the  public  busi- 
ness shall  be  open  to  the  public,  and  that  the  records  of 
such  meetings  and  actions  be  fully  kept  and  be  open 
to  public  inspection  at  all  reasonable  hours.  It  is  a 
wise  provision  of  several  modern  charters  that  requires 
the  publication  of  an  "official  gazette"  or  like  organ 


THE  COUNCIL  AND  LEGISLATION        117 

containing  in  detail  the  acts  of  the  council  or  the  min- 
utes of  its  meetings,  and  which  any  citizen  can  have 
mailed  to  him  on  his  request;  it  is  very  desirable  that 
the  newspapers  of  the  city  be  given  free  access  to  all 
records  and  encouraged  to  send  their  reporters  to  the 
meetings.  But  there  are  questions  of  policy  always 
appearing  which  should  and  will  be  discussed  in  private 
by  the  members  of  the  council,  no  matter  what  prohi- 
bitions of  such  action  are  contained  in  the  charter. 

It  is  often  necessary  to  purchase  a  parcel  of  land  for 
public  use,  as  a  park,  an  approach  to  a  bridge,  or  a  site 
for  a  reservoir  or  a  fire  station.  The  members  of  the 
council  know  that  any  publicity  given  to  such  an  inten- 
tion will  immediately  enhance  the  price  of  the  property. 
When  it  was  known  that  Spokane  must  have  a  certain 
sixty-acre  parcel  of  land  just  outside  the  city  to  protect 
its  water  supply,  the  owner  promptly  platted  the  acreage 
into  building  lots,  filed  the  plat  with  the  county  recorder 
and  put  a  price  upon  it  which  the  city  council  thought 
excessive.  In  the  condemnation  suit  which  followed, 
the  city  had  to  pay  two  or  three  times  the  price  at 
which  the  land  would  have  sold  to  a  private  purchaser 
before  it  was  known  that  the  city  wanted  it.  If  pub- 
licity had  been  avoided,  the  members  of  the  city  coun- 
cil might  have  obtained  an  option  through  some  third 
party,  and  the  land  purchased  at  a  reasonable  valua- 
tion. Of  course  a  dishonest  councilman  might  have 
made  a  private  deal  with  the  owner  to  double  the 
price  and  divide  the  spoils,  but  if  we  are  ever  to  obtain 
good  government  we  must  give  our  officials  the  con- 


118       THE  COUNCIL  AND  LEGISLATION 

structive  presumption  of  honesty  rather  than  the  de- 
structive assumption  of  guilt.  An  official  persistently 
treated  with  contempt  is  quite  likely  to  become  con- 
temptible. 

In  most  commission  cities  where  the  commissioners 
give  their  whole  time  to  the  government,  it  is  the  prac- 
tice to  have  an  administrative  session  of  the  council 
at  a  stated  hour  on  every  business  day,  and  a  legislative 
session  once  a  week.  Citizens  know  that  they  can  get 
into  touch  with  their  government  any  day,  and  get 
consideration  of  any  complaint  or  suggestion.  It  often 
happens  that  such  business  as  is  transacted  at  adminis- 
trative sessions  is  light  and  of  little  moment,  and  that 
it  is  done  with  no  spectators  present  other  than  the 
clerks  and  the  newspaper  reporters.  Sometimes,  indeed, 
there  is  no  business  to  be  done  and  the  record  contains 
only  the  roll  call  and  the  motion  to  adjourn;  but  the 
daily  meeting  is  desirable.  In  city  manager  cities, 
where  the  duties  of  the  councilmen  should  be  made  as 
light  as  possible,  there  should  be  provided  by  ordinance 
or  the  charter  a  board  of  officers  with  a  daily  meeting, 
empowered  to  attend  to  the  petty  routine  of  city 
business. 

The  proposed  charter  for  Seattle  contained  a  useful 
provision  of  this  sort,  by  which  the  council  was  relieved 
and  the  public  business  facilitated:  "There  shall  be 
a  board  of  awards  and  adjustments  which  shall  consist 
of  the  city  manager,  the  city  comptroller  and  the  cor- 
poration counsel.  The  board  shall  hold  such  regular 
meetings  as  it  may  determine  and  such  special  meetings 


THE  COUNCIL  AND  LEGISLATION        119 

as  it  may  appoint  or  the  chairman  may  call.  All  meet- 
ings shall  be  public,  at  a  stated  place,  and  a  majority 
of  all  members  shall  be  necessary  to  constitute  a  quo- 
rum. The  board  shall  award  all  contracts;  adjust, 
allow  and  certify  for  payment  all  bills,  pay-rolls  and 
claims;  cause  to  be  prepared  and  certify  to  the  city 
council  all  assessment  rolls  for  local  improvements ;  hear 
and  determine  all  applications  for  permits  not  other- 
wise provided  for  by  law;  fix  the  amount  of  and 
approve  the  sufficiency  of  the  sureties  on  all  bonds, 
except  as  otherwise  provided  by  law ;  and  at  least  once 
in  every  six  months  examine  such  bonds  and  determine 
the  sufficiency  of  the  amount  and  sureties  thereof  and 
in  its  discretion,  require  new  or  additional  bonds ;  and 
perform  such  other  duties  as  the  council  shall  prescribe. 
The  comptroller  shall  be  secretary  and  keep  a  record 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  board." 

The  City  Ordinances. — The  laws  to  which  city 
dwellers  are  subject  have  their  origin  in  many  sources : 
the  constitutions  of  the  nation  and  the  state;  the  com- 
mon law ;  the  legislative  enactments  of  the  Congress  and 
the  state  legislature  in  so  far  as  these  apply;  and  the 
charter  and  ordinances  of  the  city.  These  latter  are 
delegations  of  the  police  power  of  the  state,  which  in 
its  broad  sense,  is  the  power  to  govern.  City  ordinances 
possess  the  same  basis  of  authority  as  city  charters,  but 
the  latter  are  intended  to  be  more  fundamental,  more 
fixed,  and  less  easy  to  change  than  the  former.  The 
right  of  supervision  and  control  of  the  streets  is  prop- 
erly a  charter  grant,  but  the  details  of  the  regulation  of 


120       THE  COUNCIL  AND  LEGISLATION 

traffic  upon  them  is  a  matter  which  is  subject  to  fre- 
quent change,  and  is  therefore  proper  subject  matter 
for  a  city  ordinance.  City  charters  prescribe  the  form 
and  procedure  necessary  to  make  an  ordinance  legal 
and  effective,  specifying  an  enacting  clause  with  which 
every  ordinance  must  begin,  forbidding  the  inclusion  of 
more  than  one  subject  and  specifying  the  vote  by  which 
they  must  be  adopted,  the  time  which  must  elapse  be- 
tween introduction  and  final  passage,  etc. 

The  Cleveland  charter  requires  that  city  ordinances 
be  introduced  in  written  or  printed  form,  that  they 
shall  contain  but  one  subject,  which  shall  be  clearly  ex- 
pressed in  the  title;  that  none  other  than  emergency 
ordinances  be  passed  until  they  have  been  read  on  three 
separate  days;  that  the  third  reading  shall  be  in  full 
unless  the  measure  is  written  or  printed  and  a  copy 
furnished  to  each  member  of  the  council  prior  to  such 
reading ;  and  that  they  shall  be  in  effect  from  and  after 
forty  days  from  the  date  of  their  passage.  All  char- 
ters require  an  interval  between  introduction  and  pas- 
sage, excepting  for  "emergency  ordinances,"  which 
may  be  adopted  in  shorter  time  and  may  go  into  effect 
sooner.  This  rapid  legislation  is  dangerous  and  is 
always  surrounded  with  safeguards  to  prevent  the 
abuse  of  the  power.  The  Springfield,  Ohio,  charter 
requires  a  four-fifths  vote  for  the  adoption  of  an 
emergency  ordinance  and  copies  the  Cleveland  defini- 
tion verbatim,  as  follows : 

"An  emergency  measure  is  an  ordinance  or  resolution  for  the 
immediate  preservation  of  the  public  peace,  property,  health  or 
safety,  or  providing  for  the  usual  daily  operation  of  a  municipal 


THE  COUNCIL  AND  LEGISLATION        121 

department,  in  which  the  emergency  is  set  forth  and  defined  in 
a  preamble  thereto.  Ordinances  appropriating  money  may  be 
passed  as  emergency  measures,  but  no  measure  making  a  grant, 
renewal  or  extension  of  a  franchise  or  other  special  privilege, 
or  regulating  the  rate  to  be  charged  for  its  service  by  any 
public  utility,  shall  ever  be  so  passed." 

Ordinances  may  ordinarily  be  amended  by  the  same 
vote  and  under  the  same  procedure  as  is  prescribed  for 
their  adoption. 

The  Referendum. — In  cities  where  the  referen- 
dum is  not  effective,  an  ordinance  may  go  into  effect 
upon  its  passage,  or,  if  the  mayor  has  the  veto  power, 
in  ten  or  twenty  days  thereafter.  For  the  operation  of 
the  referendum  a  longer  time  is  required,  sufficient  for 
obtaining  the  necessary  signatures  to  the  petitions  and 
the  checking  of  them  by  the  city  clerk.  The  referendum 
permits  the  people  to  approve  or  reject  at  the  polls  any 
measure  passed  by  the  council,  sometimes  excepting 
emergency  measures.  Under  its  operation  an  ordinance 
may  be  submitted  directly  to  the  people  by  voluntary 
action  of  the  council,  or  it  must  be  submitted  to  vote 
if  a  sufficient  petition  is  filed  with  the  council  before 
the  ordinance  goes  into  effect.  The  number  of  quali- 
fied electors  required  for  such  a  petition  varies  in  vari- 
ous cities  but  it  is  usually  from  ten  to  fifteen  per  cent 
of  the  number  voting  at  a  recent  city  election.  If  the 
petition  is  found  to  be  sufficient,  the  city  council  pro- 
ceeds to  reconsider  the  measure,  and  if  it  then  be  not 
repealed  or  amended  by  the  council  as  demanded  in  the 
petition,  the  ordinance  is  withheld  from  going  into 
effect  and  must  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people 


122       THE  COUNCIL  AND  LEGISLATION 

either  at  the  next  regular  election  or  at  a  special  election 
called  for  the  purpose. 

The  Model  Charter  of  the  National  Municipal  League 
makes  an  emergency  ordinance  also  subject  to  the 
referendum.  The  action  is  the  same  as  is  provided  for 
other  measures,  except  that  an  emergency  ordinance 
already  in  effect  shall  not  be  suspended  while  the  refer- 
endum proceedings  are  pending.  If  it  be  not  approved 
by  a  majority  of  the  voters  at  the  referendum  election, 
"it  shall  be  considered  repealed  as  regards  any  further 
action  thereunder  and  all  rights  and  privileges  con- 
ferred by  it  shall  be  null  and  void."  The  referendum 
is  one  of  the  new  tools  of  democracy.  It  gives  the 
people  a  more  direct  and  immediate  control  over  the 
acts  of  their  representatives  in  the  city  council  than  they 
have  before  enjoyed,  and  it  thereby  places  a  new  and 
added  responsibility  upon  the  citizen.  W.  B.  Munro 
calls  the  referendum  "an  omen  of  a  declining  faith  in 
the  integrity  and  good  judgment  of  elective  law- 
makers." l  The  referendum  as  it  now  exists  is  merely 
an  extension  of  the  powers  of  the  voter;  it  is  an  old 
and  common  practice  to  require  a  vote  of  the  people 
of  the  city  upon  a  charter  granted  by  a  state  legislature, 
and  upon  the  incurring  of  municipal  indebtedness. 

The  Initiative. — Under  the  referendum  the  peo- 
ple may  veto  the  action  of  their  representatives  in  the 
city  council.  It  involves  negative  action  only.  The 
initiative  gives  to  the  people  constructive  opportunity 

*W.  B.  Munro,  The  Government  of  American  Cities,  1917, 
p.  322. 


THE  COUNCIL  AND  LEGISLATION        123 

in  legislation ;  the  right  to  correct  omissions  on  the  part 
of  the  lawmakers.  It  is  the  means  whereby  a  private 
citizen  may  participate  in  the  legislative  functions  of 
the  government.  The  initiative  is  usually  found 
coupled  with  the  referendum  in  our  cities  and  states, 
but  it  is  less  used  than  the  latter,  because  the  people 
are  more  easily  aroused  in  antagonism  to  a  definite 
proposal  than  interested  in  new  and  affirmative  meas- 
ures. The  rapid  adoption  of  these  measures  of  direct 
legislation  is  due  to  the  fact  that  they  appeal  not  only 
to  the  voters  but  to  members  of  legislative  bodies.  The 
voters  believe  that  by  these  means  their  representatives 
will  be  stimulated  to  closer  attention  to  popular  de- 
mands, while  the  legislators  welcome  the  opportunity 
to  shift  some  of  their  more  pressing  responsibilities 
upon  the  people.  The  hope  of  good  government  is  in 
the  increasing  interest  of  the  citizen,  and  interest  grows 
with  any  added  duty  or  responsibility. 

The  operation  of  the  initiative  is  much  the  same  as 
already  outlined  for  the  referendum.  A  petition  con- 
taining the  proposed  measure  in  full,  with  the  required 
number  of  signers,  is  presented  to  the  city  council. 
If  the  council  then  adopts  the  ordinance  without 
change,  the  proceeding  lapses.  If  the  council  refuses  to 
pass  the  ordinance,  it  must  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the 
people.  Ten  to  fifteen  per  cent  petitions  are  usually 
required  but  the  conditions  vary  considerably  in  the 
different  cities.  In  Oakland,  California,  the  initiative 
is  invoked  with  a  five  per  cent  petition  and  the  measure 
must  be  submitted  at  the  next  general  municipal  elec- 


124       THE  COUNCIL  AND  LEGISLATION 

tion.  If  the  petition  contains  the  names  of  fifteen  per 
cent  of  the  qualified  voters  (and  not  less  than  3,000), 
the  council  must  call  a  special  election,  unless  there  is 
to  be  a  municipal  election  within  ninety  days.  In 
Kalamazoo  either  the  initiative  or  the  referendum  is  in- 
voked by  a  fifteen  per  cent  petition.  In  Sacramento 
only  five  hundred  names  are  required  for  either,  but  the 
voters  must  go  to  the  city  clerk's  office  to  sign. 

This  provision  is  a  recognition  of  the  common  evil 
of  "petition  shoving."  Interested  parties  have  been 
known  to  pay  circulators  of  petitions,  either  wages  or  a 
fee  for  each  signature  obtained,  and  it  is  a  well-known 
proclivity  of  our  people  to  sign  petitions  in  a  careless 
and  inconsiderate  manner.  A  petition  to  hang  the 
governor,  who  was  a  popular  executive,  was  once  cir- 
culated among  the  members  of  the  Nevada  legislature 
and  it  was  signed  by  a  majority  of  them  before  its  real 
purport  was  discovered.  The  circulator  was  careful  to 
approach  a  member  only  when  he  was  busy,  and  then 
with  the  statement  that  the  petition  was  in  favor  of 
granting  a  few  days  vacation  to  a  page  whose  mother 
was  ill.  The  coming  of  direct  legislation  has  brought 
a  new  responsibility  to  the  voter.  Of  course  the  peti- 
tion itself  does  not  determine  the  fate  of  an  initiative 
measure,  but  special  elections  are  expensive  and  should 
not  be  called  for  unless  the  proper  proportion  of  the 
voters  believe  in  its  necessity. 

A  serious  difficulty  with  the  operation  of  the  initia- 
tive is  the  careless  and  ineffective  way  in  which  the 
measure  is  often  drafted.  From  the  fact  that  an  ordi- 


THE  COUNCIL  AND  LEGISLATION        125 

nance  adopted  in  this  way  cannot  usually  be  repealed 
or  amended  by  the  city  council,  but  only  by  the  people, 
it  is  evident  that  grave  complications  may  easily  de- 
velop. The  Model  Charter  of  the  National  Municipal 
League  endeavors  to  overcome  this  difficulty  by  requir- 
ing that  the  petitions  carry,  in  addition  to  the  measure 
itself,  printed  in  full,  "the  names  of  at  least  five  electors 
who  shall  be  officially  regarded  as  filing  the  petition, 
and  shall  constitute  a  committee  of  the  petitioners  for 
the  purposes  hereinafter  named."  If  the  petition  is 
found  sufficient  (fifteen  per  cent  for  submission  at  the 
next  general  election  and  twenty-five  per  cent  if  a 
special  election  is  demanded)  the  city  council  is  re- 
quired to  consider  the  measure,  refer  it  to  a  proper 
committee  which  shall  hold  public  hearings  upon  it, 
and  report  within  sixty  days.  The  council  must  accept 
or  reject  the  measure  within  thirty  days  thereafter. 

If  the  council  fails  to  pass  the  measure  it  must  sub- 
mit it  to  the  voters.  "When  submitted  the  measure 
shall  be  either  in  its  original  form,  or  with  any  proposed 
change  or  addition  which  was  presented  in  writing 
either  at  the  public  hearing  before  the  committee  to 
which  such  proposed  measure  was  referred,  or  during 
the  consideration  thereof  by  the  council ;  and  said  com- 
mittee of  petitioners  shall  certify  to  the  clerk  the  re- 
quirement of  submission  and  the  proposed  measure  in 
the  form  desired,  within  ten  days  after  the  date  of 
final  action  on  such  measure  by  the  council."  The, 
Cleveland  charter  provides  for  the  amendment  or  re- 
peal of  initiated  ordinances  by  the  city  council,  and 


126       THE  COUNCIL  AND  LEGISLATION 

this  is  a  wise  provision.  The  Sacramento  charter 
recognizes  the  danger  of  submitting  at  the  same  elec- 
tion two  or  more  initiative  measures  of  the  same  gen- 
eral purport  but  with  different  provisions,  by  providing 
that  "in  the  event  that  two  or  more  ordinances  adopted 
at  the  same  election  shall  contain  conflicting  provisions, 
the  ordinances  or  proposition  receiving  the  highest 
number  of  votes  at  such  election  shall  be  paramount 
and  all  questions  of  construction  shall  be  determined 
accordingly." 

Frank  L.  Goodnow,  in  summing  up  the  arguments  in 
favor  of  the  initiative,  says :  "The  processes  of  direct 
legislation  are,  in  the  last  resort,  a  powerful  engine  for 
bringing  forward  and  placing  on  the  statute  book  legis- 
lation for  the  public  welfare  which  through  the  opera- 
tion of  special  and  selfish  interests  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  secure  from  representative  bodies  of  the  usual 
type."  *  The  higher  the  "usual  type"  the  better  the 
results  and  the  less  need  for  direct  legislation. 
1  Frank  J.  Goodnow,  Municipal  Government,  1919,  p.  168. 


CHAPTER  VII 

ADMINISTRATION 

Schools. — Most  city  charters  have  nothing  to  say 
regarding  the  public  schools,  although  the  schools  are, 
in  their  product  and  their  cost,  the  most  important  item 
of  administration.  The  reason  for  this  omission  in  char- 
ters is  that  schools  are  usually  administered  under  di- 
rect state  authority,  granted  to  a  school  district  the 
boundaries  of  which  may  or  may  not  be  identical  with 
those  of  the  municipality.  The  citizen  of  a  city  is,  how- 
ever, a  citizen  of  a  school  district  and  has  the  same  du- 
ties and  responsibilities  in  this  capacity  as  he  has  toward 
other  administrative  departments.  Partizan  politics 
plays  just  as  much  havoc  in  the  conduct  of  the  schools 
as  it  does  in  the  management  of  the  water  works ;  it  has 
no  proper  place  in  either,  and  the  city  that  still  endures 
its  presence  must  suffer.  In  most  states  the  schools  are 
administered  by  elected  district  boards  under  a  state 
organization  headed  by  a  superintendent  of  public  in- 
struction or  commissioner  of  education.  The  boards  are 
composed  of  three  or  more  citizens  usually  elected  by 
the  people  of  the  district,  with  overlapping  terms  of 
three  or  more  years. 

These  boards  have  authority  to  hire  and  discharge 

teachers  and  executive  officers,  to  provide  buildings 

127 


128  ADMINISTRATION 

and  maintain  them,  and  to  levy  taxes.  County  superin- 
tendents of  schools  are  frequently  elected  by  the  people, 
but  city  superintendents  are  usually  appointed  by  the 
school  board  and  are  brought  from  any  section  of  the 
country  where  the  best  talent  can  be  obtained  for  the 
salary  offered.  School  boards  are  generally  unpaid, 
and  a  high  type  of  public  devotion  and  service  is  the 
rule  among  their  members.  It  is  the  one  branch  of  our 
public  business  in  which  graft  is  practically  unknown, 
and  in  which  we  have  little  to  learn  from  European 
countries.  In  a  growing  city  the  great  problem  of  a 
school  board  is  to  meet  the  needs  of  an  increasing  at- 
tendance with  suitable  buildings  and  to  keep  step  with 
modern  educational  progress  and  at  the  same  time  to 
keep  within  the  reasonable  ability  of  the  people  to  pay 
the  bills.  The  temptation  is  to  do  one  of  two  things 
which  are  always  objectionable,  namely,  to  provide  tem- 
porary or  flimsy  buildings,  or  to  burden  the  district 
with  heavily  bonded  debts.  A  nice  balance  between 
adequate  provision  for  public  education  and  financial 
obligation  calls  for  devoted  and  intelligent  service. 

Teachers  must  be  selected  with  care  and  should  be 
well  paid;  buildings  should  be  substantial,  adequate, 
permanent,  safe  and  well  heated  and  ventilated;  close 
medical  and  dental  inspection  and  correction  should  be 
continually  maintained  and  the  school  nurse  should 
carry  the  gospel  of  sanitation  and  wholesome  living  into 
the  homes  of  the  pupils.  School  buildings  are  becom- 
ing more  and  more  social  centers  and  must  now  be 
planned  and  built  with  the  idea  of  making  them  useful 


ADMINISTRATION  129 

in  other  ways  and  at  other  times  than  those  in  com- 
mon practice. 

Streets. — The  modern  city  planning  movement 
gives  its  first  attention  to  improving  facilities  of  trans- 
portation and  access,  in  the  effort  to  make  the  city  con- 
venient to  approach  and  to  traverse,  not  only  by  its 
own  people  but  by  visitors.  Intricate  and  confusing 
street  layouts  are  detrimental  to  growth  and  increase 
the  cost  of  doing  business.  It  is  said  of  Boston 
that  it  is  an  easy  city  to  get  around  but  very  difficult 
to  get  across,  and  this  can  be  verified  by  the  occasional 
visitor.  Most  American  towns  and  cities  have  grown 
by  accretion  and  without  plan,  and  as  a  consequence 
there  is  plenty  of  work  in  them  for  experts  in  street 
planning.  Vision  and  judgment  are  demanded  in  fore- 
seeing future  needs  as  business  and  population  grow. 
The  casual  visitor  may  be  the  future  citizen,  and  first 
impressions  are  likely  to  be  of  the  character  and  condi- 
tion of  the  streets,  particularly  if  the  visitor  be  one 
of  the  army  of  automobile  tourist?  now  growing  so 
rapidly.  A  street  plan  which  includes  the  correction  of 
past  errors,  ample  facilities  for  present  and  future 
business,  and  good  connections  with  arterial  country 
roads  is  an  urgent  need  of  most  of  our  cities. 

The  proper  use  of  the  streets  brings  up  many  ad- 
ministrative problems.  Traffic  rules,  parking  regula- 
tions, pavements,  use  of  sidewalks,  drainage,  lighting 
and  cleaning  are  all  very  important  to  city  life,  and 
all  more  or  less  complicated  by  the  great  change  in 
street  usage  brought  about  by  the  displacement  of  the 


130  ADMINISTRATION 

horse  by  the  automobile.  The  increasing  use  of  heavy 
and  high-powered  vehicles  has  vastly  increased  the  dan- 
ger of  the  streets  and  the  frequency  and  fatality  of 
street  accidents.  In  the  city  of  New  York  there  is  an 
average  of  more  than  two  deaths  a  day  the  year  around 
from  street  accidents,  and  the  loss  of  life  from  this 
cause  in  all  of  our  larger  cities  is  appalling.  The  safety 
of  the  people  in  the  public  streets  is  an  administrative 
as  well  as  a  personal  responsibility.  It  is  not  enough 
to  place  the  care  of  the  streets  in  the  hands  of  some 
official;  he  must  be  qualified  to  assume  such  a  grave 
responsibility,  he  must  keep  posted  on  progressive  enact- 
ments and  practices  in  other  cities,  and  must  have  be- 
hind him  a  continuing  public  sentiment  for  ease  and 
safety  of  street  traffic. 

Parking  rules  have  come  to  be  most  important.  The 
streets  of  a  city  are  primarily  arteries  of  traffic  and 
means  of  access  to  property.  The  merchant  who  pays 
rental  for  a  store  building  is  entitled  to  easy  access  for 
his  customers,  and  that  right  is  infringed  by  long  park- 
ing of  vehicles  in  front  of  his  door.  Sidewalks  are  in- 
tended for  pedestrian  traffic,  and  every  other  use  of 
them  which  a  city  allows,  infringes  the  right  of  their 
proper  public  use.  There  is  a  continual  antagonism 
and  argument  between  those  who  use  the  streets  and 
sidewalks  for  their  primary  and  legitimate  purpose  and 
others  who  seek  special  privileges  upon  them,  and  be- 
tween these  opposing  contentions  the  official  in  charge 
must  hold  a  reasonable  balance. 

The  proper  lighting  of  streets  is  an  expert's  job,  but 


ADMINISTRATION  131 

examples  of  inefficient,  inadequate  and  wasteful  light- 
ing may  be  found  in  most  of  our  cities.  Improvements 
in  the  art  of  lighting  come  so  rapidly  that  an  installa- 
tion of  street  lighting  is  likely  to  become  obsolete  be- 
fore it  is  fairly  completed.  The  official  in  charge  of 
lighting  must  keep  pace  with  modern  practice.  He 
must  know  of  the  new  inventions  whereby  the  best 
light  is  obtained  from  the  least  expenditure  of  money, 
both  in  installation  and  maintenance ;  he  must  keep  ad- 
vised of  the  studies  of  glare,  refraction,  silhouette  and 
intensity  which  are  being  made  by  lighting  engineers 
and  he  must  be  able  to  determine  proper  costs  of  such 
lighting  projects  as  he  is  ready  to  recommend  to  his 
city  council. 

Sewers. — Proper  drainage  is  essential  to  health- 
ful living  and  constitutes  a  vital  problem  in  city  ad- 
ministration. Nothing  advertises  a  city  more  as  a  good 
place  to  avoid,  than  does  the  visible  evidence  of  the  lack 
of  sufficient  sewers.  The  importance  of  adequate  drain- 
age is  now  so  well  known  that  in  many  states  a  state 
board  of  health,  or  similar  body,  has  authority  to  com- 
pel the  building  of  sewers  in  a  city  which  is  negligent  or 
careless  of  its  own  sanitary  condition.  Too  many  cities 
are  in  this  class.  Sewers  are  expensive,  they  produce  no 
revenue,  and  their  cost  is  frequently  assessed  against 
the  property  which  they  serve,  not  only  the  cost  of  the 
branch  or  lateral  which  goes  to  the  property,  but  also 
a  proportion  of  the  cost  of  the  street  line  and  the  trunk 
line,  which  may  be  miles  distant.  But  their  necessity 
is  vital,  and  cleanly  people  who  live  in  an  unsewered 


132  ADMINISTRATION 

district  are  always  anxious  for  their  installation.  The 
chief  antagonism  comes  from  the  owners  of  vacant 
property  who  have  no  present  use  for  sewerage  and 
who  object  to  paying  their  portion  of  the  expense. 

The  councilman  who  will  listen  to  the  pleas  of  non- 
resident owners  of  vacant  property  in  opposition  to  a 
sewer  installation,  as  against  the  frequently  unanimous 
demand  of  those  who  live  upon  its  proposed  route,  is 
an  anachronism.  Most  American  cities  are  overbur- 
dened with  vacant  lots  held  for  speculative  profit. 
These  lots  are  rendered  more  valuable  by  every  building 
erected  in  their  neighborhood,  and  by  every  family 
which  locates  in  the  district,  and  their  owners,  so  long 
as  we  allow  them  to  profit  from  a  source  so  entirely 
communal  and  outside  of  any  contribution  of  their  own, 
should  not  be  allowed  to  obstruct  the  progress  of  reason- 
able and  essential  public  improvement. 

The  planning  of  sewers  based  upon  the  contour  and 
natural  drainage  of  the  land,  and  the  computations  and 
estimates  of  their  capacity  for  both  house  and  surface 
requirements,  is  usually  done  by  the  city  engineer,  and 
these  are  real  problems.  The  more  closely  the  city  is 
built  up,  the  less  the  ability  of  the  soil  to  absorb  surface 
waters  and  the  greater  the  size  of  the  required  sewer. 
Size  is  also  influenced  by  gradient,  by  the  presence  of 
industries  which  may  contribute  large  quantities  of 
sewage,  and  by  the  intensity  of  rainfall.  One  of  the  too 
common  sights  in  all  our  cities  is  a  crew  of  men  digging 
up  an  expensive  pavement  to  replace  an  inadequate 
sewer  with  one  of  the  proper  capacity,  an  expense  which 


ADMINISTRATION  133 

would  not  have  been  necessary  had  the  engineer  who 
designed  the  original  sewer  been  competent  in  his 
work. 

The  Police  Department.  —  The  two  principal 
functions  of  government  are  to  serve  and  to  restrain; 
the  more  it  can  serve  and  the  less  it  must  restrain,  the 
better  the  government.  Diminishing  necessity  for  re- 
straint is  not  so  much  an  evidence  of  a  good  police 
force  as  it  is  of  an  increased  regard  for  the  rights  of 
others  by  the  mass  of  the  people.  So  long  as  self-re- 
straint has  not  been  developed  in  the  individual  citizen, 
forcible  restraint  must  be  provided  by  the  government. 
The  police  force  cannot  be  dispensed  with  until  all  have 
learned  the  applicability  of  the  golden  rule  to  all  the 
relationships  of  life;  and  the  upward  progress  of  hu- 
manity is  very,  very  slow. 

The  organization  of  the  police  force,  both  in  its  man- 
agement and  control  and  in  its  personnel,  is  one  of  the 
most  important  of  the  city's  administrative  tasks.  The 
charter  should  provide  for  non-political  control,  for  ap- 
pointment by  competitive  tests,  for  promotion  by  merit, 
for  the  public  care  of  members  of  the  force  injured 
while  in  the  service,  and  for  retirement  on  pension.  In 
commission  cities  the  head  of  the  department  is  one  of 
the  elected  commissioners,  while  in  others  an  appointed 
commissioner  or  board  is  usually  in  charge,  acting  under 
the  authority  of  the  city  council  or  the  mayor.  The 
chief  of  police  should  be  an  expert  in  organization  and 
experienced  in  the  details  of  law  enforcement.  Much 
depends  upon  his  capacity  and  understanding  of  the 


134  ADMINISTRATION 

intricate  problems  with  which  he  constantly  has  to  deal, 
and  his  ability  to  keep  up  an  efficient  and  harmonious 
organization.  His  influence  permeates  his  force,  and 
his  personality  may  make  all  the  difference  between 
firm  but  kindly  insistence  upon  law  observance  and  a 
nagging  and  intolerant  exercise  of  authority  by  his  sub- 
ordinates. 

A  good  policeman  is  the  product  of  sound  character, 
personal  courage,  a  kindly  disposition  and  long  and 
intense  training.  These  are  high  qualifications  and  we 
need  not  be  surprised  that  there  are  few  men  or  women 
who  can  measure  up  to  our  requirements.  In  constant 
touch  with  the  seamy  side  of  life,  subject  to  strong 
temptations  from  those  ready  to  threaten,  hoodwink  or 
corrupt,  often  abused  by  respectable  citizens  who  chance 
to  come  within  the  law's  prohibitions,  and  subject  to 
multifarious  orders  and  instructions  from  headquarters, 
the  police  officer  has  a  difficult  part  to  play.  That  some 
of  them  yield  to  temptation  is  no  wonder.  But  the 
faithful  and  efficient  police  officer,  man  or  woman,  de- 
serves the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  citizens  he  pro- 
tects and  will  be  a  better  officer  and  citizen  for  some 
evidence  of  public  esteem  and  appreciation. 

The  Fire  Department. — In  the  smaller  commis- 
sion cities  the  administration  of  the  fire  department  is 
under  the  elected  commissioner  of  public  safety;  under 
other  forms  of  government  it  may  be  in  charge  of  the 
mayor,  of  a  fire  commissioner  or  a  board  of  appointive 
officials.  A  chief  engineer  is  the  intermediary  between 
the  management  and  the  details  of  operation  and  person- 


ADMINISTRATION  135 

nel.  Voluntary  organizations  of  fire-fighters  were  the 
rule  in  all  of  our  cities  fifty  years  ago  and  still  form  the 
only  agency  for  fire  protection  in  many  of  the  smaller 
towns.  In  the  transition  stage  between  volunteer 
and  paid  fire  departments  a  nucleus  of  paid  men  is 
assisted  by  volunteers  or  by  men  in  other  employment, 
subject  to  call.  The  old  volunteer  organizations  did 
good  service,  and  their  rivalries  and  competitions,  both 
in  real  fires  and  in  the  frequent  friendly  contests,  are  a 
pleasant  memory  to  their  former  members.  As  a  rule, 
they  objected  to  the  introduction  of  paid  departments 
and  modern  apparatus  with  the  same  vigor  that  work- 
men fought  the  arrival  of  labor-saving  machinery.  In 
Cincinnati  the  voluntary  firemen  put  up  a  strong  fight 
against  the  introduction  of  steam  pumping  engines  in 

1853- 

One  of  the  greatest  difficulties  of  fire  department  ad- 
ministration is  caused  by  the  lack  of  steady  employment 
for  the  men.  In  congested  districts  where  alarms  are 
ordinarily  frequent,  employment  is  reasonably  constant, 
but  in  the  outlying  residential  districts  where  but  two 
or  three  alarms  per  month  are  received,  the  ingenuity 
of  the  captain  in  charge  is  not  equal  to  the  task  of 
keeping  the  men  employed,  and  idleness  proverbially 
induces  mischief.  A  new  proposal,  which  promises 
not  only  relief  from  this  condition,  but  substantial 
monetary  advantage  to  the  city,  is  to  furnish  productive 
employment  at  fire  stations,  which  can  be  carried  on  in 
spare  time  and  which  will  in  no  way  interfere  with 
readiness  and  efficiency  when  there  is  an  alarm  of  fire. 


136  ADMINISTRATION 

The  repair  of  the  city's  street  equipment,  the  care  of 
automobiles,  the  handling  of  the  city's  stores,  the  manu- 
facture and  repair  of  the  uniforms  of  the  police  and 
firemen,  and  many  other  useful  occupations  might  be 
carried  on. 

Spokane  has,  in  connection  with  one  fire  station,  a 
shop  wherein  automobile  fire  apparatus  is  repaired  and 
built,  and  the  fine  hose  cars,  chemical  wagons  and  other 
vehicles  which  have  been  produced  in  this  shop  would  be 
a  credit  to  any  manufacturer,  besides  being  built  at 
about  half  the  price  (not  counting  labor)  that  the  city 
would  be  charged  by  any  outside  producer.  Increased 
wages,  over  their  regular  pay  as  firemen,  are  paid  to  the 
firemen  who  work  in  this  shop,  and  it  is  found  that  they 
are  not  only  just  as  good  firemen  but  are  also  better 
satisfied,  more  contented,  and  proud  of  their  accom- 
plishments. The  double  platoon  system  now  gaining 
favor  would  be  less  expensive  and  more  productive 
under  such  a  plan.  Additions  to  the  personnel  might 
well  be  selected  for  mechanical  ability  as  well  as  for 
their  aptitude  for  fire  fighting. 

The  Health  Department. — City  health  officers 
are  almost  universally  appointed,  a  recognition  of  the 
demand  for  experts  and  of  the  futility  of  attempting 
to  elect  them.  Charters  usually  prescribe  no  qualifica- 
tions for  this  important  position  except  that  the  health 
officer  be  a  graduate  physician  licensed  to  practice  medi- 
cine in  the  state.  Under  the  Model  Charter  of  the  Na- 
tional Municipal  League  he  may  be  either  "a  sanitary 
engineer  or  a  member  of  the  medical  profession."  The 


ADMINISTRATION  137 

duties  of  the  health  officer  are  growing  to  be  so  special- 
ized that  his  calling  is  now  recognized  as  a  distinct  pro- 
fession and  men  are  being  trained  for  the  work  through 
a  curriculum  quite  distinct  from  that  which  is  provided 
for  the  medical  practitioner.  In  the  smaller  cities  a 
man  may  be  both  city  physician  and  health  officer,  but 
when  the  population  reaches  50,000  the  employment  of 
a  specially  trained  health  officer  will  be  found  advan- 
tageous. 

The  importance  of  conserving  the  public  health,  and 
the  financial  loss  incurred  by  a  community  by  reason  of 
preventable  sickness  and  death  are  now  so  well  under- 
stood that  the  administration  of  the  health  office  has 
become  of  prime  importance.  The  chief  business  of  the 
health  officer  and  his  assistants  is  to  prevent  and  con- 
trol infectious  and  contagious  diseases,  to  prevent  the 
sale  of  contaminated  and  unwholesome  foods,  to  super- 
vise the  production  and  distribution  of  the  milk  supply, 
to  abate  nuisances  and  to  have  control  of  general  sani- 
tation throughout  the  city.  He  should  have  charge  of 
city  isolation  hospitals  and  the  gathering  of  vital  statis- 
tics. Garbage  collection  and  disposal  are  proper  activi- 
ties of  the  health  department,  though  this  work  is  often 
placed  in  the  department  of  public  works  or  utilities. 

Markets. — In  most  American  cities  the  buying 
and  selling  of  merchandise  is  not  considered  a  proper 
activity  of  government,  but  in  nearly  all  of  them  some 
facilities  and  inducements  for  closer  contact  between 
producer  and  consumer  are  supplied  by  the  municipality. 
This  is  usually  confined  to  providing  market  houses  or 


138  ADMINISTRATION 

setting  aside  street  areas  or  other  public  places  where 
the  produce  of  near-by  truck  farms  and  market  gardens 
may  be  exposed  for  sale.  Most  cities  confine  themselves 
in  this  matter  to  furnishing  shelter,  renting  stalls  or 
spaces,  and  maintaining  order  and  cleanliness  among 
the  merchants  and  patrons  of  the  market.  In  some  pub- 
lic markets  ther6  is  no  restriction  as  to  the  sources  of 
the  merchandise  offered;  it  may  come  from  near  or 
far,  may  be  perishable  or  stable,  may  be  offered  for 
sale  by  producer,  dealer  or  commission  merchant.  In 
others  the  marketing  is  confined  to  producers  of  the 
vicinity  and  restricted  to  the  produce  of  their  own  farms 
and  gardens. 

The  city  is  represented  by  a  market  master  whose 
business  it  is  to  collect  the  rentals,  maintain  order, 
enforce  cleanliness  and  sanitation  and  compel  observ- 
ance of  such  rules  as  the  city  council  may  establish  for 
the  market.  If  the  market  is  restricted  to  home  prod- 
uce, he  must  see  that  it  is  confined  to  that  use  and  not 
allowed  to  become  a  dumping  place  for  outside  prod- 
ucts. Farmers  and  truck  raisers  of  the  vicinity  usually 
feel  that  they  are  entitled  to  a  preference  over  outsiders 
in  the  use  of  the  local  markets,  and  city  councils  are 
likely  to  recognize  this  claim.  Cold  storage  facilities 
are  sometimes  provided  and  in  rare  instances  city 
authorities  have  themselves  undertaken  the  buying  and 
selling  of  farm  and  food  products  and  fuel.  Very  few 
American  cities  have  the  legal  right  to  carry  on  such 
undertakings  and  it  is  not  often  done  excepting  in  times 
of  stress,  when  the  needs  of  the  people  are  pressing  and 


ADMINISTRATION  139 

the  local  retail  prices  are  higher  than  are  justified  by 
a  reasonable  margin  above  producers'  cost. 

Police  Courts. — The  judicial  authority  of  the 
American  city  is  not  great,  as  most  of  the  law  courts  in 
cities  are  a  part  of  the  general  judicial  system  of  the 
state  and  governed  by  state  constitutions  and  laws. 
Charters  ordinarily  contain  few  provisions  regarding 
them.  The  Cleveland  charter  makes  the  Director  of 
Law  the  prosecutor  in  the  municipal  court ;  the  Kalama- 
zoo  charter  recites  that  the  state  laws  shall  apply.  The 
Sacramento  charter  provides  for  the  organization  of 
the  court  by  the  appointment  of  a  police  judge  by  the 
city  council,  prescribing  his  qualifications  and  duties 
and  outlining  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court.  In  the 
larger  cities  the  municipal  courts  are  often  subdivided 
and  specialized,  usually  under  special  acts  of  legisla- 
tures, and  there  are  now  in  operation  night  courts, 
children's  courts  and  courts  of  domestic  relations. 

These  specialized  courts  are  performing  a  most  useful 
service  in  response  to  the  growing  realization  that  the 
prevention  of  crime,  the  settlement  of  trivial  disputes 
without  formal  legal  action,  and  the  reform  of  poten- 
tial criminals  and  juvenile  offenders  is  a  greater  serv- 
ice to  society  than  the  fining  or  incarceration  of  con- 
victed offenders.  Police  judges  are  useful  officials  not 
so  much  because  of  their  knowledge  of  the  law  as  be- 
cause of  their  knowledge  of  human  nature  and  their 
ability  to  intercept  criminal  tendencies  and  start  the 
unruly  and  turbulent  upon  less  unsocial  paths.  A  grow- 
ing knowledge  of  social  responsibility  and  the  menace 


140  ADMINISTRATION 

to  character  of  congenital  tendency  and  unwholesome 
environment  has  greatly  modified  and  benefited  our 
treatment  of  offenders.  A  prosecutor  or  police  judge 
is  not  now  so  proud  of  the  proportion  of  convictions 
as  of  the  number  of  the  wayward  and  unruly  who 
have  been  put  in  the  way  of  right  living. 

Probation  officers  are  a  necessary  part  of  police  court 
organization,  and  their  usefulness  to  the  community, 
like  that  of  police  judges,  depends  largely  upon  their 
broad  knowledge  of  human  nature  and  their  sympathy 
with  its  lapses  from  right  conduct.  A  good  probation 
officer  will  keep  large  numbers  of  cases  out  of  the  police 
court,  thereby  saving  the  city  the  cost  of  such  actions 
and  helping  the  quarrelsome  and  wayward  to  decent  and 
self-respecting  citizenship. 

Recreational  Activities. — Recognition  of  the  nor- 
mal requirement  of  recreation  for  adults  as  well  as 
children  finds  its  expression  in  an  increasing  demand 
for  public  parks,  playgrounds  and  facilities  for  whole- 
some sport  and  exercise.  Parks  and  playgrounds  are 
usually  administered  by  a  board  whose  members  are 
sometimes  elected  but  more  often  appointed  by  the 
mayor  or  the  city  council.  Its  members  are  usually  un- 
paid, they  have  long  terms  and  their  terms  overlap.  A 
common  condition  is  a  board  of  ten  members,  with  ten- 
year  terms,  one  member  appointed  each  year.  Funds 
for  their  use  may  be  either  taxes  levied  by  the  board, 
proceeds  of  bond  issues  voted  by  the  people,  or  a  sum 
determined  and  supplied  by  the  city  council  from  the 
public  revenues.  Charters  sometimes  fix  a  definite  an- 


ADMINISTRATION 

nual  tax  levy  for  their  support.  In  some  states  park 
boards  are  created  and  given  authority  under  state 
laws;  they  are  practically  independent  of  city  authori- 
ties, and  such  boards  frequently  have  authority  over 
territory  which  is  outside  of  the  city's  boundaries. 

Modern  cities  are  not  satisfied  with  park  and  play- 
ground areas  amounting  to  less  than  an  acre  for  each 
one  hundred  inhabitants,  nor  unless  some  recreational 
facilities  are  within  easy  reach  of  all  their  people.  Those 
who  indulge  in  games  and  sports  are  supplied  with 
baseball  grounds,  tennis  courts,  golf  links  and  swim- 
ming pools.  There  is  usually  a  plot  set  aside  for  camp- 
ing by  automobile  tourists  with  facilities  for  cooking, 
comfort  and  cleanliness,  supplied  with  water  and  fuel. 
Wading  pools,  drinking  fountains  and  refreshment 
stands  add  to  the  inducements  for  public  patronage. 

A  boulevard  system  consisting  of  drives  through  the 
parks  and  broad  thoroughfares  connecting  them  and 
traversing  other  places  of  scenic  attractiveness,  is 
usually  a  part  of  the  park  system.  More  attention  is 
being  given  than  ever  before  to  the  wholesome  use  of 
the  hours  of  leisure  and  to  the  attractive  embellishment 
of  the  city  for  the  benefit  of  its  people  and  the  effect 
upon  the  casual  visitor.  Supervised  play  under  com- 
petent leadership  and  available  to  all  the  children  of 
the  city  has  become  a  normal  and  common  administra- 
tive function  of  the  American  city. 

Charities. — Under  a  modern  city  charter  the 
city's  charities  as  well  as  its  correctional  institutions  and 
agencies  are  administered  by  a  department  of  public 


142  ADMINISTRATION 

welfare,  under  a  commissioner  or  a  director.  Spo- 
kane has  a  charity  commission  created  by  ordinance, 
the  members  of  which  are  appointed  by  the  mayor  and 
serve  without  pay.  This  commission  inspects  the  various 
institutions  for  charitable  aid,  such  as  orphans'  homes, 
day  nurseries  and  the  like,  to  which  city  funds  are  con- 
tributed, and  recommends  to  the  city  council  the  divi- 
sion of  its  charity  appropriation  among  them  on  the 
basis  of  their  need  and  their  usefulness.  Their  manage- 
ment is  scrutinized  and  their  books  audited.  The  func- 
tion of  the  commission  is  purely  advisory,  but  its  work 
is  very  valuable  in  saving  the  time  of  the  city  officials, 
relieving  them  of  considerable  responsibility  and  exer- 
cising a  sympathetic  oversight  of  the  city's  charities  by 
a  board,  the  members  of  which  are  selected  for  their 
knowledge  of  such  work  and  their  devotion  to  it. 

Charitable  institutions  are  usually  founded  and  car- 
ried on  through  churches  or  other  voluntary  organiza- 
tions and  are  often  insufficiently  financed.  The  care  of 
the  unfortunate  victims  of  accident,  disease  and  broken 
homes  is  a  proper  public  responsibility  and  while  the 
city  government  may  well  leave  it  in  private  hands  as  to 
management,  the  supervision  of  some  official  agency 
and  the  appropriation  of  city  funds  when  urgently  need- 
ed are  a  duty  of  the  government. 

Employment  Agencies. — Free  employment  agen- 
cies are  now  common  in  progressive  cities  and 
serve  a  useful  and  proper  purpose.  They  not  only 
serve  a  purpose  which  is  not  well  cared  for  by 
private  agencies,  namely,  the  supplying  of  men  and 


ADMINISTRATION  143 

women  for  and  with  short  jobs,  but  they  also  give 
the  opportunity  for  employment  to  many  needy  workers 
who  cannot  afford  to  pay  the  fees  which  the  private 
agencies  charge.  The  whole  employment  situation  could 
be  served  by  a  proper  cooperation  between  the  nation- 
al labor  agencies  established  in  many  cities  by  the 
United  States  Department  of  Labor,  and  the  local  city 
labor  offices.  Private  labor  agencies  are  a  frequent 
source  of  complaint  to  city  officials.  They  should  be 
licensed  by  the  city  and  it  should  be  the  duty  of  the  city 
labor  agent  to  keep  close  watch  of  them  to  see  that 
their  patrons,  often  ignorant  and  helpless  immigrants, 
are  not  imposed  upon  by  unjust  and  unscrupulous  man- 
agement. 

Collusion  with  job  foremen  by  labor  agents  is  a  too 
common  practice.  The  laborer  pays  his  fee,  is  sent 
to  the  job,  given  a  few  days'  work,  and  discharged  to 
make  room  for  another  man  who  has  paid  another 
fee;  and  the  fees  are  divided  between  the  labor  agent 
and  the  foreman.  Summary  cancellation  of  a  labor 
agent's  license  to  do  business  is  a  proper  penalty  for 
such  an  offense.  City  governments  are  beginning  to 
understand  that  people  are  as  important  as  things ;  that 
a  community  must  develop  and  care  for  the  welfare  of 
its  inhabitants  as  well  as  for  their  property  and  physical 
safety. 

Public  Utilities. — A  municipal  public  utility  may 
be  defined  as  a  business  organized  to  supply  the  com- 
munity with  some  commodity  or  service  in  large  or 
general  demand,  which  requires  a  franchise  for  the 


144  ADMINISTRATION 

use  of  the  streets  for  its  permanent  structures.  Public 
utilities  are  the  chief  conveniences  of  modern  city  life 
and  one  of  the  most  important  features  of  city  adminis- 
tration, which  is  charged  with  the  duty  of  their  manage- 
ment, supervision  or  control.  The  most  important  city 
utilities  are  those  which  furnish  water,  gas,  electric 
current,  telephones  and  street  transportation,  and  to 
these  five  undertakings  our  consideration  will  be  con- 
fined. Of  these,  the  public  water  supply  is  the  only 
ancient  member ;  gas  was  introduced  for  public  lighting 
less  than  one  hundred  years  ago,  street  railways  much 
later,  and  electric  lighting  and  telephones  came  in  com- 
paratively recent  years.  The  city  government's  respon- 
sibility is  to  see  that  the  use  of  the  streets  for  their 
normal  purposes  of  transportation  and  access  is  not 
interfered  with  unnecessarily,  that  the  service  rendered 
by  the  utilities  is  adequate  and  satisfactory  and  that  the 
rates  charged  for  that  service  are  just  and  reasonable. 
Public  Ownership  of  Utilities. — The  question  of 
public  ownership  is  an  important  one  in  nearly  every 
American  city,  and  in  many  cities  it  is  the  chief  issue 
in  municipal  elections.  This  is  largely  due  to  the  too 
common  practice  of  utility  corporations,  of  corrupting 
city  governments  in  order  to  maintain  their  hold  and 
increase  their  profits.  The  people  of  many  cities  be- 
lieve, justly  or  unjustly,  that  the  utility  corporations 
are  charging  too  high  rates,  giving  too  little  service  and 
using  means  for  maintaining  their  hold  on  the  city 
which  corrupt  city  officials  and  infect  the  whole  body 
of  city  government.  Advocates  of  public  ownership 


ADMINISTRATION  145 

argue  that  the  policy  of  public  utilities  should  be  based 
upon  service  rather  than  profit ;  that  better  service  and 
better  government  will  result  from  the  elimination  of 
utility  influence  on  city  officials ;  that  the  people  should 
have  a  more  direct  control  over  these  services  which  are 
so  essential  to  city  life;  and  that  thousands  of  successful 
publicly  owned  and  operated  utilities  demonstrate  the 
feasibility  and  advantage  of  this  plan. 

Its  opponents  contend  that  government  should  not 
interfere  with  business ;  that  a  political  organization  is 
unfitted  to  take  responsibilities  of  operation  and  man- 
agement ;  that  labor  is  more  efficient  under  private  con- 
trol; that  public  indebtedness  should  not  be  increased 
for  the  purpose  of  financing  utilities ;  that  success  is  im- 
possible when  management  must  change  with  chang- 
ing political  administrations;  and  they  furnish  many 
examples  of  the  decay  and  failure  of  municipal  utility 
undertakings.  It  is  true  that  frequent  changes  in  au- 
thority for  political  reasons  will  ruin  any  business  un- 
dertaking. The  man  who  has  worked  for  a  private 
corporation  three  or  four  years  and  has  shown  industry 
and  ability  can  have  his  job  as  long  as  he  makes  good  or 
as  long  as  the  company  needs  his  services;  while  the 
man  who  has  worked  for  the  public  a  few  years  in  a 
position  of  authority  and  responsibility  and  has  made  a 
record  of  faithful  and  intelligent  service  is,  if  he  be  an 
elected  official,  likely  to  be  dismissed  at  the  next  election 
by  the  force  of  private  greed  or  petty  vengeance  for 
some  real  or  fancied  personal  grievance,  and  the  new 
man  put  into  his  place,  no  matter  how  high  his  character 


146  ADMINISTRATION 

and  capacity  may  be,  must  study  his  work  for  months 
before  he  can  become  proficient  in  it. 

It  seems  certain  that  a  city  which  is  unable  to  main- 
tain an  honest  and  capable  government  should  avoid  the 
responsibilities  of  public  utility  ownership,  but  it  seems 
equally  true  that  a  city  which  has  demonstrated  its 
ability  to  conduct  its  purely  governmental  business  with 
honesty,  efficiency  and  intelligence  may  undertake  the 
ownership  and  management  of  its  public  utilities  with 
confidence. 

Public  Utility  Franchises. — Modern  city  charters 
devote  much  attention  to  the  granting  of  utility  fran- 
chises. The  Kalamazoo  charter  provides  that  an  ordi- 
nance granting  or  amending  a  franchise  "shall  not  be- 
come effective  until  it  shall  have: 

"(a)   Been  passed  by  the  city  committee. 

"(&)  Been  unconditionally  accepted  in  writing  by 
the  grantee. 

"(c)  Been  published  in  full,  together  with  the 
grantee's  acceptance,  in  a  daily  newspaper  of  the  city, 
at  least  once  a  week  for  five  consecutive  weeks,  the 
last  insertion  to  be  made  within  the  week  immediately 
preceding  the  date  of  the  popular  vote. 

"(d)  Received  the  affirmative  vote  of  three-fifths 
of  the  electors  of  said  city,  voting  thereon  at  a  regular 
or  special  election."  The  Cleveland  charter  gives  the 
city  council  the  right  of  granting  franchises,  subject 
to  the  general  referendum  section,  with  a  few  detailed 
provisions  which  are  not  mandatory.  "It  may  prescribe 
in  the  ordinance  the  kind  and  quality  of  service  or  prod- 


ADMINISTRATION  147 

uct  to  be  furnished,  the  rate  or  rates  to  be  charged 
therefor,  the  manner  in  which  the  streets  and  public 
grounds  shall  be  used  and  occupied,  and  any  other 
terms  and  conditions  conducive  to  the  public  interest." 
It  provides  that  all  grants  and  renewals  of  franchises 
"shall  reserve  to  the  city  the  right  to  terminate  the  same 
and  purchase  all  the  property  of  the  utility  in  the 
streets  and  highways  *  *  *  at  a  price  either  fixed  in 
the  ordinance  or  to  be  fixed  in  the  manner  provided  by 
the  ordinance." 

The  Sacramento  charter  provisions  concerning  fran- 
chises contain  thirty-six  sections  and  cover  thirteen 
pages  of  closely  printed  matter.  The  charter  requires  a 
formal  application  in  specified  form,  and  goes  into  much 
detail  as  to  the  provisions  which  the  franchise  must  con- 
tain. It  provides  for  competitive  bidding  for  all  new 
franchises  excepting  those  for  interurban  or  steam  rail- 
roads; that  "any  person,  having  made  the  necessary 
deposit  (as  a  guarantee  of  good  faith)  may  submit  an 
offer  or  bid,  or  offers  or  bids  in  writing  for  the  said 
franchise  upon  terms  which  he  deems  of  better  advan- 
tage to  the  city  than  the  terms  of  the  said  application." 
No  franchise  ordinance  goes  into  effect  within  sixty 
days  from  its  passage  by  the  council,  and  all  such  ordi- 
nances are  subject  to  the  general  referendum  pro- 
visions of  the  charter. 

Public  utility  franchises  are  no  longer  granted,  as 
they  have  been  in  the  past,  in  perpetuity,  or  for  nine 
hundred  and  ninety-nine  years,  as  was  the  street  railway 
franchise  in  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.  Terms  are  usually 


148  ADMINISTRATION 

short,  not  often  longer  than  thirty  years,  and  there 
is  generally  a  provision  for  the  purchase  of  the  property 
for  the  city  during  the  life  of  the  grant.  A  few  indeter- 
minate utility  franchises  have  been  granted,  but  they 
always  make  provision  for  public  ownership  when  the 
city  elects  to  undertake  it. 

Municipal  Water  Works. — Most  opponents  of 
public  ownership  of  utilities  concede  its  propriety  in  the 
control  of  water  supply.  Not  that  they  admit  that  the 
business  as  a  business  can  be  so  well  carried  on  under 
public  as  under  private  control,  but  because  the  water 
supply  of  a  city  is  so  vital  to  the  health  of  the  com- 
munity that  its  cost  is  a  secondary  consideration.  The 
chief  requirements  of  the  city  water  supply  are  purity, 
sufficient  quantity,  and  continuity  of  supply.  In  the 
older  sections  of  the  country  where  population  is  con- 
gested, where  cities  are  close  together  and  use  the  rivers 
and  lakes  as  outlets  for  their  sewers,  it  has  become 
very  difficult  to  obtain  pure  water  in  sufficient  quantity 
to  supply  the  needs  of  a  city.  Our  larger  cities  have 
expended  millions  to  buy  watersheds,  to  protect  their 
waters  from  contamination  and  to  bring  them  long  dis- 
tances to  the  point  of  use ;  and  millions  more  will  be  re- 
quired as  population  grows. 

Water  of  natural  purity  is  always  preferable  for  a 
city  supply,  but  if  this  cannot  be  obtained  the  water  must 
be  purified  by  settling,  filtration  or  chemical  treatment 
before  it  is  distributed  to  its  consumers,  and  such  treat- 
ment is  now  general  in  those  cities  which  are  forced  to 
obtain  their  water  from  contaminated  sources.  The 


ADMINISTRATION  149 

death  rate  in  cities  often  bears  a  direct  relation  to  the 
character  of  their  water  supply.  The  average  daily 
consumption  of  water  in  American  cities  is  a  little  less 
than  one  hundred  gallons  per  capita,  but  in  some  cities, 
particularly  in  those  in  which  much  irrigation  of  lawns 
is  required,  it  reaches  three  hundred  gallons  or  even 
more  in  the  hot  months,  and  every  city  water  works 
should  be  able  to  supply  the  maximum  demand  at 
all  times.  Failure  to  do  this,  to  keep  the  consumer 
supplied  at  the  point  of  use  with  water  under  proper 
pressure,  may  be  either  from  insufficient  quantity  or 
from  an  inadequate  system  of  transmission  and  dis- 
tribution. 

Water  mains  should  be  of  sufficient  size  and  should 
be  kept  internally  clean  and  free  from  leaks.  Waste  of 
water  should  be  curtailed  by  the  close  inspection  and  re- 
pair of  distributing  mains  and  service  pipes,  and  by  the 
installation  of  meters  on  all  services.  It  is  impossible  to 
curb  water  waste  when  water  is  sold  on  a  flat  rate,  and 
the  careful  consumer  should  not  be  obliged  to  pay  for 
the  wastefulness  of  hig  careless  neighbor.  While  the 
most  important  requirement  of  a  city  water  supply  is 
to  furnish  pure  water  for  household  use,  its  adequate 
administration  includes  the  duty  of  furnishing  water 
for  fire  fighting,  street  cleaning,  sewer  flushing  and  for 
industrial  and  manufacturing  uses.  Insurance  rates  will 
be  lower  if  the  water  supply  is  constant  and  adequate, 
not  only  for  use  from  street  hydrants  in  the  case  of 
fires,  but  for  the  supply  of  the  automatic  sprinkler  sys- 


150  ADMINISTRATION 

terns  which  are  now  installed  in  many  business  and  man- 
ufacturing establishments. 

Gas  Works. — There  are  few  publicly  owned  gas 
works  in  the  United  States,  so  that  the  administrative 
duties  of  the  city  government  in  regard  to  this  utility 
are  ordinarily  confined  to  such  supervision  of  private 
plants  as  is  possible  under  the  law,  and  the  enforcement 
of  the  contract  obligations  of  the  franchise.  The  older 
franchises  were  weak  in  service  requirements,  and  such 
as  were  included  usually  referred  to  the  use  of  gas  as 
an  illuminant  when  used  in  open  burners.  Since  the 
introduction  of  electric  lighting,  gas  has  been  gradually 
relegated  to  uses  in  which  its  quality  and  value  depend 
upon  its  heating  power,  and  older  franchise  require- 
ments have  become  obsolete.  Gas  lighting  by  use  of  the 
incandescent  mantle  has  superseded  its  use  in  open 
burners,  and  in  this  use  its  efficiency  depends  entirely 
upon  its  heating  power,  rather  than  its  "candle  power." 
Modern  franchises  usually  specify  that  gas  is  to  be 
furnished  having  a  certain  number  of  heat  units  in 
each  cubic  foot,  that  its  pressure  must  be  held  con- 
stant within  certain  limits  and  that  it  must  contain  a 
minimum  of  sulphur,  which  is  injurious  to  household 
furnishings  and  appliances. 

The  city  chemist  is  a  valuable  ally  to  the  administra- 
tive official  in  the  supervision  of  gas  supply.  His  labo- 
ratory should  be  equipped  to  test  the  calorific  power  of 
gas,  to  determine  the  percentage  of  deleterious  sub- 
stances present  and  to  test  the  accuracy  of  the  meters 
by  which  it  is  measured  out  to  consumers.  Where 


ADMINISTRATION  151 

there  are  no  franchise  requirements  of  suitable  stand- 
ards they  may  be  fixed  by  city  ordinance  or  by  the 
service  regulations  of  state  public  service  commissions. 
Many  disputes  between  consumers  and  the  gas  company 
regarding  the  amount  of  gas  bills  can  be  comfortably 
adjusted  by  means  of  a  provision  whereby  the  city  offi- 
cial in  charge  shall  test  a  gas  meter  upon  request  of  a 
consumer,  charging  a  fee  for  the  test  which  is  paid  by 
the  consumer  if  the  meter  registers  in  his  favor  or  by 
the  company  if  the  meter  registers  against  the  consumer, 
and  making  an  adjustment  of  the  bill  on  the  basis  of 
the  error  found  in  the  meter. 

Electric  Light  and  Power. — In  the  early  history 
of  electric  lighting,  as  in  all  the  municipal  utilities  ex- 
cepting water  supply,  the  business  was  carried  on  under 
private  ownership  and  operation.  Now  municipally 
owned  plants  are  common  and  public  officials  administer 
them  in  many  cities.  More  cities  would  own  and 
operate  their  electric  plants  if  they  had  legal  authority 
to  do  so,  and  if  they  wer,e  not  restricted  in  their  ability 
to  finance  them  by  constitutional  and  statutory  prohi- 
bitions which  prevent  the  borrowing  of  money  for  such 
purposes.  Modern  charters  usually  specify,  in  the  enu- 
meration of  the  city's  powers,  the  right  to  own  and 
operate  lighting  plants  of  all  kinds,  but  legislatures  are 
inclined  to  discourage  such  undertakings  and  can  easily 
prevent  them.  Most  cities  are  now  so  close  to  their  limit 
of  borrowing  power  that  the  large  capital  necessary  to 
buy  or  build  a  lighting  plant  is  beyond  their  reach. 

The  broad  administrative  duty  of  city  officials  in  the 


152  ADMINISTRATION 

management  and  supervision  of  electric  light  and  power 
utilities,  publicly  or  privately  owned,  is  to  see  that  the 
citizens  are  given  good  service  at  reasonable  cost,  and 
that  the  normal  use  of  the  streets  is  not  infringed  by 
the  structures  and  operations  of  the  utility.  Good  serv- 
ice not  only  requires  stability  and  continuity  of  current 
supply,  but  also  embraces  a  prompt  readiness  to  attend 
to  the  needs,  troubles  and  complaints  of  the  consumers. 
The  good  will  of  its  patrons  is  a  most  valuable  asset 
to  any  utility,  public  or  private.  Poles  in  the  streets 
are  always  objectionable  but  are  tolerated  in  most 
cities  because  of  the  cost  of  underground  conduits. 
They  should  not  be  allowed  to  obstruct  traffic  in  busi- 
ness districts  nor  to  mar  the  beauty  of  parks  and  boule- 
vards. 

Telephones. — The  use  of  the  city  streets  by  the 
telephone  companies  is  usually  granted  by  city  fran- 
chise ordinances  and  is  regulated  by  administrative  offi- 
cials, but  the  business  is  of  such  wide  scope  and  univer- 
sal use  that  its  regulation  comes  properly  under  the 
broader  authority  of  state  and  national  government. 
State  public  service  commissions  in  most  states  have 
this  responsibility,  being  usually  charged  with  the  duty 
of  regulating  both  the  character  of  the  service  and  the 
rates  charged.  In  some  cities  telephone  franchises  con- 
tain rate  schedules  as  well  as  conditions  under  which 
the  streets  are  used,  but  such  contracts  have  not  been 
held  valid  as  to  rates  when  the  state's  authority  of  regu- 
lation has  been  invoked. 

Some  cities  have  allowed  competitive  telephone  sys- 


ADMINISTRATION  153 

terns  to  operate,  but  the  disadvantages  of  such  duplica- 
tion are  so  obvious  that  consolidations  and  purchase  of 
one  system  by  the  other  have  been  encouraged  and 
brought  about.  The  telephone  service  is  so  patently 
a  natural  monopoly,  duplication  involves  such  unneces- 
sary cost  to  a  community  and  such  detriment  by  reason 
of  additional  poles  and  conduits  in  the  streets,  that  it 
is  no  longer  considered  allowable  in  our  cities.  Compe- 
tition in  such  a  business  is  always  detrimental  to  the 
public  interest  in  the  long  run.  If  public  ownership 
is  to  come,  it  is  properly  a  function  of  the  national  gov- 
ernment rather  than  of  a  municipality.  Telephone  and 
telegraph  communication  are  now  as  much  public  neces- 
sities as  is  the  carrying  of  the  mails. 

Street  Transportation. — The  most  vexing  prob- 
lem of  public  administration  in  most  American  cities  to- 
day, is  that  of  adequate  local  transportation.  This  con- 
dition has  been  brought  about  primarily  by  the  coming 
of  the  automobile,  and  secondarily  by  the  decline  in  the 
value  of  the  nickel,  for  many  years  since  the  inception 
of  the  street  railway  business  the  measure  of  local  fare. 
The  automobile  now  furnishes  local  transport  for  many 
who  formerly  used  the  street  cars  and  has  also  developed 
into  a  strong  competitor  as  a  means  of  public  transpor- 
tation. In  the  years  following  the  World  War  the  pur- 
chasing power  of  the  five-cent  piece  in  relation  to  the 
labor  and  supplies  required  to  conduct  the  street  rail- 
way business  decreased  by  one-half,  the  street  cars  failed 
to  yield  enough  revenue  to  meet  the  requirements  of 
operation,  maintenance  and  capital  earnings,  and  many 


154.  ADMINISTRATION 

operating  companies  were  forced  into  bankruptcy.  City 
governments  and  state  commissions  have  allowed  ad- 
vanced fares  in  many  cities,  but  patronage  generally 
decreases  to  some  extent  as  fares  advance,  and  the 
doubled  fare  which  was  allowed  in  many  cities  has 
frequently  failed  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the 
operators. 

Cheap  and  adequate  urban  transportation  is  vital 
to  modern  city  life.  Depending  upon  it,  the  suburbs 
have  become  populated  by  those  who  were  able  to  buy 
the  cheaper  lands  and  homes  far  from  business  centers, 
but  who  could  not  own  homes  within  walking  distance 
of  their  employment.  Without  cheap  transportation 
many  of  them  would  be  forced  to  live  in  tenements  in 
densely  populated  districts  and  to  submit  to  living  con- 
ditions which  are  unwholesome  as  well  as  undesirable 
for  themselves  and  their  families.  If  cheap  transporta- 
tion is  no  longer  possible,  they  must  leave  their  pleasant 
homes  in  the  outlying  districts  and  seek  places  to  live 
nearer  their  work.  This  condition  means  an  inevitable 
decay  in  citizenship  and  a  severe  and  permanent  injury 
to  the  city  as  a  whole. 

Public  officials  may  well  be  concerned  as  to  the  solu- 
tion of  this  distressing  problem.  If  the  street  railway, 
reinforced  in  the  larger  cities  by  the  subways  and  the 
elevated  railways,  is  to  meet  the  needs  of  growing  busi- 
ness and  increasing  populations,  it  must  have  an  income 
sufficient  to  maintain  itself  and  to  make  extensions  as 
the  need  arises.  If  the  future  method  of  urban  trans- 
portation is  destined  to  be  upon  rubber-tired  vehicles, 


ADMINISTRATION  155 

then  the  cities  must  be  prepared  for  the  transition  and 
to  take  care  of  the  public  requirements  as  the  change 
proceeds.  It  is  a  public  duty  to  provide  fair  earnings 
for  the  street  railways  so  long  as  they  are  necessary,  so 
long  as  their  operation  is  so  vital  to  the  public  welfare. 
Public  ownership  of  street  railways  has  many  advocates, 
not  only  among  those  who  regard  the  importance  of 
adequate  transportation  to  civic  welfare  as  justification 
for  the  public  assumption  of  the  risks  and  burdens  of 
their  operation,  but  also  among  the  management  and 
stockholders  of  the  private  corporations  engaged  in  the 
business,  who  see  in  this  movement  a  way  of  salvaging 
the  investment.  The  "service  at  cost"  franchise,  now 
in  operation  in  several  cities,  is  regarded  by  many  as  a 
step  toward  public  ownership.  It  gives  the  city  govern- 
ment a  part  in  management,  and  guarantees  fair  earn- 
ings upon  a  property  valuation  fixed  in  the  franchise, 
which  valuation  is  also  a  basis  for  the  sale  of  the  prop- 
erty to  the  city  whenever  the  city  elects  to  take  it  over 
and  operate  it  as  a  municipal  undertaking. 

Utility  Rates. — The  administration  of  public 
utilities,  both  publicly  and  privately  owned,  demands 
upon  the  part  of  public  officials  a  knowledge  of  rates 
and  rate-making,  familiarity  with  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples upon  which  rates  are  based,  and  a  great  measure 
of  judgment  and  common  sense.  The  policy  of  a  pub- 
licly owned  utility  should  be  to  furnish  the  best  possible 
service  at  the  lowest  possible  rates,  and  to  conduct  the 
business  in  the  interest  of  its  patrons.  It  should  fully 
pay  its  own  way  but  it  should  not  be  called  upon  to  con- 


156  ADMINISTRATION 

tribute  unpaid  service  or  surplus  earnings  to  the  general 
taxpayer  or  to  other  departments.  Any  other  course  is 
in  effect  a  special  tax  upon  consumers  of  its  service  as 
such,  and  in  proportion  to  their  usage  of  the  utility,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  public  funds.  The  same  principles  ap- 
ply to  private  ownership,  with  the  further  requirement 
of  economical  operation  and  reasonable  earnings  on  in- 
vested capital.  Franchise  taxes,  excessive  charges  for 
the  use  of  bridges  and  other  public  property,  or  unjust 
paving  requirements  should  not  be  demanded,  for 
every  such  charge  is  reflected  in  the  rates  which  the 
patrons  pay. 

A  publicly  owned  utility  may  use  any  surplus  earnings 
for  retiring  debt  obligations,  and  when  any  portion  of 
its  debt  is  paid,  that  part  will  no  longer  be  a  capital  obli- 
gation. Or  it  may  use  its  surplus  to  make  extensions,  the 
earnings  of  which  will  benefit  other  patrons  and  in- 
crease the  value  of  the  plant.  The  total  earnings  must 
be  sufficient  to  pay  interest  on  borrowed  capital,  to 
cover  operation,  repairs  and  maintenance,  to  provide  a 
proper  depreciation  reserve  and  a  sinking  fund  in  an- 
ticipation of  debt  maturities.  All  these  requirements 
influence  rates,  for  the  total  income  must  be  sufficient 
to  meet  them.  When  the  sum  of  the  required  earnings 
is  known,  the  rates  must  be  adjusted  to  produce  the 
amount  by  dividing  the  burden  among  the  consumers 
of  the  service  with  as  near  an  approach  to  equity  and 
justice  as  is  possible. 

Absolute  justice  is  unattainable  in  rate-making,  but 
that  is  no  excuse  for  failure  to  attempt  its  accomplish- 


ADMINISTRATION  157 

ment.  "All  that  the  traffic  will  bear"  is  no  longer  an 
acceptable  principle  in  rate-making;  the  charge  for  a 
particular  service  must  be  closely  based  upon  the  cost 
of  that  service,  with  frequent  exceptions  in  which 
justice  may  yield  to  expediency.  For  example,  take  a 
hilly  city  where  water  is  supplied  by  pumping.  The  cost 
of  pumping  water  depends  considerably  upon  the  height 
to  which  it  is  elevated,  but  it  is  not  expedient  to  charge 
the  consumer  located  on  the  hilltop  more  than  the  one 
in  the  valley.  The  cost  of  carrying  a  passenger  on  a 
street  car  depends  largely  upon  the  distance  he  rides, 
but  American  cities  find  it  expedient  to  charge  him  the 
same  fare  whether  he  rides  three  blocks  or  ten  miles. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

MUNICIPAL   FINANCE 

Large  amounts  of  money  are  required  to  carry  on  the 
government,  and  the  question  of  how  this  money  shall 
be  raised  is  a  very  vital  one  in  every  city,  as  well  as  in 
the  state  and  the  nation.  On  the  one  hand  we  have  the 
needs  and  demands  of  efficient  administration  and  the 
financial  obligations  incurred  in  the  past,  and  on  the 
other  the  constant  complaint  against  the  burdens  of  tax- 
ation and  the  plea  for  their  reduction.  We  cannot 
afford  to  advocate  a  destructive  policy  of  public  admin- 
istration by  lowering  the  public  expenditures  below  the 
point  where  they  will  yield  useful  and  efficient  city 
government.  Taxes  rise  because  we  expect  more  from 
our  government  than  ever  before.  The  regulation  of 
public  utilities,  better  sanitation,  food  inspection,  better 
paving,  lighting  and  sewers,  mothers'  pensions,  better 
roads,  medical  and  dental  care  for  the  children,  isolation 
and  emergency  hospitals,  supervised  playgrounds,  jus- 
tice in  industrial  accidents,  better  schools  and  libraries, 
all  cost  more;  but  they  return  more  to  us  in  better 
lives,  more  joy  in  living  and  greater  safety  to  our  per- 
sons and  our  property. 

If  we  pay  less  for  schools  and  the  care  of  children, 
we  pay  more  for  jails  and  corrective  measures;  if  we 

158 


MUNICIPAL  FINANCE  159 

pay  less  for  sanitation,  we  must  bear  more  cost  for 
sickness  and  death.  Economy,  public  or  private,  does 
not  consist  in  denying  ourselves  any  good  thing  which 
we  want  and  are  able  to  pay  for.  It  does  consist  in 
getting  a  dollar's  worth  of  service  for  every  dollar 
expended.  What  can  we  do,  within  the  limits  of  our 
reasonable  ability,  to  make  our  city  a  better  place  to 
live  in?  We  must  have  a  healthy  city  and  we  cannot 
afford  to  wait  for  our  cleaning  up  until  the  coming  of 
some  fatal  epidemic.  Most  cities  spend  too  little  upon 
the  preservation  of  the  public  health;  it  is  the  last  de- 
partment in  which  expenditures  should  be  cut  in  times 
of  financial  stress. 

Sources  of  Revenue. — General  municipal  reve- 
nues come  principally  from  the  direct  property  tax, 
levied  in  proportion  to  the  estimated  cash  value  of  the 
property,  both  real  and  personal.  Lesser  revenue  re- 
sults from  poll  taxes,  franchise  taxes,  licenses  and  in- 
spection fees.  Court  fines  and  penalties  add  a  small 
amount.  The  cost  of  public  improvements  which  are 
an  immediate  benefit  to  a  section  or  district  of  the 
city  is  frequently  met  by  assessment  against  the  particu- 
lar property  benefited  by  the  improvement.  Real  and 
personal  property  is  usually  assessed  and  its  value  de- 
termined by  state  authority,  and  the  value  so  found  is 
the  basis  of  the  tax  levies  of  the  various  authorities 
which  have  the  taxing  power,  which  is  always  a  delega- 
tion of  the  police  power  of  the  state.  The  common 
tendency  is  to  multiply  the  agencies  which  have  the 
power  to  levy  taxes.  Chicago  has  twenty-four  separate 


160  MUNICIPAL  FINANCE 

taxing  authorities,  consisting  of  county,  city,  sanitary 
district,  forest  preserve  district,  board  of  education, 
library  board,  tuberculosis  sanatorium  and  seventeen 
park  commissions.  Multnomah  County,  Oregon, 
which  contains  the  city  of  Portland,  has  eighty-odd 
taxing  authorities,  including  townships  and  school  dis- 
tricts. Nine  of  them  overlap  in  the  city  itself. 

The  justice  of  the  common  methods  used  in  American 
cities  for  raising  public  revenue  has  often  been  ques- 
tioned, and  while  state  laws  and  constitutional  provi- 
sions usually  prevent  any  radical  departure  from  com- 
mon practice,  several  interesting  experiments  have  been 
made.  Pittsburgh  has  exempted  personal  property  from 
city  taxation,  including  stocks  of  merchandise,  the 
tools  and  equipment  of  manufacturing  plants,  and 
goods  in  the  process  of  manufacture,  and  has  arranged 
a  reduction  in  the  tax  rate  for  buildings  and  improve- 
ments upon  realty  of  ten  per  cent  every  three  years, 
until  the  rate  is  reduced  to  one-half  of  that  placed  upon 
land.  This  is  an  application  of  the  "single  tax"  or  "site 
value"  theory,  which,  while  comparatively  new  in  this 
country,  has  been  used  for  many  years  in  the  cities  of 
Western  Canada.  Any  proposed  or  attempted  plan  of 
more  equitable  distribution  of  the  burdens  of  taxation 
is  entitled  to  the  unprejudiced  study  of  forward-look- 
ing citizens  everywhere.  The  evils  and  injustices  of 
our  present  system  are  unquestionable. 

The  amount  of  taxes  to  be  levied  to  meet  any  year's 
municipal  expenditures  is  a  matter  of  judgment  as  to 
the  city's  needs  on  the  part  of  the  city  officials,  subject 


MUNICIPAL  FINANCE  161 

to  such  limitations  as  the  constitution,  statutes  or  char- 
ter may  fix.  There  is  always  considerable  pressure 
brought  to  bear  in  both  directions,  and  ordinarily  more 
attention  on  the  part  of  the  public  is  centered  at  the  city 
hall  at  the  time  of  determining  the  tax  levy  than  at  any 
other  time  of  the  year.  Heads  of  departments,  knowing 
the  usual  attitude  of  the  city  council  and  the  heavy  tax- 
payers, generally  ask  for  more  money  than  they  expect 
to  receive.  Citizens  who  are  interested  in  specific  activi- 
ties or  measures  are  present  in  force,  trying  to  get  extra 
appropriations  for  their  hobbies.  Others,  usually  rep- 
resenting the  heavy  taxpayers,  are  urging  cuts  in  the 
estimates,  arguing  against  every  proposed  increase,  de- 
manding closer  economy,  using  every  means  and  argu- 
ment to  keep  taxes  at  the  lowest  point,  often  ignorant  of 
the  needs  and  regardless  of  the  welfare  of  any  other 
class  of  citizens  but  their  own.  Between  these  fires  the 
members  of  the  city  council  tread  a  dangerous  and  un- 
certain path,  knowing  that  criticism  and  condemnation 
will  be  their  lot  regardless  of  their  decisions. 

Licenses. — Until  the  adoption  of  prohibition  of 
the  liquor  traffic,  saloon  licenses  were  a  source  of  con- 
siderable public  revenue.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the 
open  saloon,  in  its  influence  upon  social  and  political 
conditions,  did  vastly  more  public  damage  than  its  con- 
tribution to  public  revenue  could  compensate  for,  but  its 
abolishment  placed  an  immediate  and  serious  financial 
burden  upon  city  officials,  particularly  in  those  cities 
which  were  under  a  state  limitation  of  the  tax  levy  and 
public  debt,  and  in  order  to  avoid  insolvency  many  of 


162  MUNICIPAL  FINANCE 

them  have  been  forced  to  place  new  or  larger  licenses 
upon  mercantile  and  industrial  undertakings.  This 
practice  is  to  be  deplored  as  an  added  burden  upon 
business  and  industry,  already  heavily  taxed  in  many 
ways,  directly  and  indirectly.  Such  business  as  pawn- 
brokers, short-time  loan  offices,  dance  halls,  pool  rooms, 
labor  agencies  and  the  like,  which  call  for  close  super- 
vision and  entail  public  expense  for  inspection  and 
police  surveillance,  should  be  licensed,  not  only  for  the 
revenue  produced,  but  in  order  that  the  city  council  may 
have  the  power,  through  cancellation  of  licenses,  to 
regulate  and  control  them. 

Franchise  Revenues. — Franchise  taxes  are  illogi- 
cal and  unjust  as  being  a  contribution  to  the  general 
public  by  patrons  of  a  utility  in  proportion  to  their  usage 
of  its  service.  They  are  not  only  unjust  but  are  also 
a  confession  of  weakness.  The  franchise  tax  was  in- 
vented at  a  time  when  we  had  no  means  of  regulating 
or  even  knowing  the  earnings  of  public  utility  corpora- 
tions and  felt  that  as  they  were  probably  excessive  we 
would  take  a  portion  of  them  for  the  public.  We  had 
no  access  to  their  books  of  accounts,  hence  we  based 
our  demands  upon  gross  revenues  or  some  such  arbi- 
trary and  unscientific  standard.  But  now,  with  the 
means  of  regulation  of  both  earnings  and  service  which 
we  possess  in  city  oversight  and  the  various  regulative 
commissions,  we  should  abolish  all  franchise  taxes,  and 
if  any  benefit  is  to  accrue  to  the  public  from  this  source 
let  it  be  in  the  form  of  lower  rates  or  better  service  to 
the  users  of  the  various  utilities.  ^We  can  stop  destruc- 


MUNICIPAL  FINANCE  163 

tive  competition  and  the  attacks  of  venial  legislators  and 
can  demand  and  enforce  common  justice  in  most  cases 
if  we  can  determine  what  •common  justice  is. 

Inspection  Fees. — Fees  for  the  inspection  and 
regulation,  under  the  city's  protective  ordinances,  of 
building  construction,  plumbing,  gas  and  water  connec- 
tions and  installations,  elevators,  weights  and  measures 
and  the  like  are  common  if  inconsiderable  sources  of 
revenue  in  most  cities.  The  common  practice  is  to 
attempt  to  set  the  fees  charged  at  an  amount  which 
will  about  cover  the  cost  to  the  city  of  the  services  of 
inspectors  and  maintenance  of  the  departments.  These 
inspections  are  made  for  the  primary  purpose  of  pro- 
tecting the  public,  and  any  benefit  which  accrues  to 
the  individual  is  incidental.  In  some  cases  it  may  be 
necessary  to  protect  him  from  the  consequences  of  his 
own  carelessness  or  his  false  notion  of  economy,  but 
the  chief  end  of  such  work  is  always  the  protection  of 
society,  that  is,  of  all  of  us.  It  therefore  seems  just 
and  reasonable  that  all  of  us  should  pay  the  cost  of 
these  services. 

Local  Assessments. — Improvements  of  local  use 
and  benefit  may,  in  most  cities,  be  ordered  and  made  by 
authority  of  the  city  council,  and  their  cost,  in  whole  or 
in  part,  assessed  against  the  property  benefited  by  the 
improvement.  State  laws  often  define  the  authority 
and  the  procedure  in  such  matters  and  limit  the  extent 
of  the  application  of  this  method  of  financing  public 
improvements,  but  the  details  are  usually  prescribed  by 
city  charters  and  ordinances.  The  Cleveland  charter 


164  MUNICIPAL  FINANCE 

gives  to  the  city  council  the  power  to  "provide  for  the 
construction,  reconstruction,  repair  and  maintenance 
by  contract  or  directly  by  the  employment  of  labor,  of 
all  things  in  the  nature  of  local  improvements,  and  to 
provide  for  the  payment  of  any  part  of  the  cost  of  any 
such  improvement  by  levying  and  collecting  special 
assessments  upon  abutting,  adjacent  and  contiguous  or 
other  specially  benefited  property."  This  method  of 
raising  money  for  city  improvements  is  generally  ap- 
proved and  adopted  not  only  because  of  its  inherent 
justice  but  also  because  it  permits  needed  improvements 
to  be  made  which  could  not  be  made  if  they  must  be 
paid  for  from  general  taxation;  many  of  our  cities 
which  are  limited  in  their  tax  levies  and  borrowing 
capacity  could  not  raise  the  money. 

This  method  is  used  for  opening,  widening,  grading, 
paving  and  lighting  streets,  for  building  sewers  and, 
in  some  cities,  for  laying  water  mains.  Street  sprinkling 
and  the  care  of  shade  trees  in  the  streets  may  sometimes 
be  financed  in  this  way.  The  procedure  varies  to  some 
extent  but  is  essentially  as  follows:  The  city  council 
by  resolution  authorizes  the  improvement  and  directs 
the  city  engineer  to  prepare  plans  and  specifications. 
The  council  decides  what  portion  of  the  cost  is  to  be 
assessed  against  the  property  benefited  and  directs  that 
a  preliminary  assessment  roll  be  made,  based  upon  the 
engineer's  estimate  of  cost.  The  date  is  set  for  a  public 
hearing,  and  notices  of  the  proposed  improvement  and 
the  hearing  are  posted  in  the  vicinity  or  mailed  to  the 
property  owners.  At  the  hearing  any  interested  citizen 


MUNICIPAL  FINANCE  165 

can  examine  the  plans  and  specifications  ana  can  find  out 
approximately  what  the  assessment  will  be  on  any  lot 
or  parcel  of  land.  After  listening  to  the  wishes, 
approval  or  objections  of  property  owners,  if  the  council 
determines  to  go  ahead  with  the  work,  it  approves  the 
plans,  decides  whether  the  work  shall  be  done  by  day 
labor  or  contract,  and  if  the  latter,  directs  that  bids  be 
solicited  and  sets  the  date  at  which  they  shall  be  received 
and  opened  by  the  council  in  public  session.  When  a 
bid  is  accepted  and  a  contract  made,  the  cost  of  the  im- 
provement is  definitely  ascertained  and  the  final  assess- 
ment roll  is  made  and  approved  by  ordinance.  Such 
assessments  are  usually  made  payable  in  five  or  ten 
annual  instalments  with  low  interest  on  deferred  pay- 
ments. 

The  contractor  is  often  paid  in  bonds  issued  against 
the  district,  and  a  lien  upon  the  property  which  is 
assessed.  These  bonds  are  not  usually  guaranteed  by 
the  city,  but  the  city  treasurer  acts  as  agent  for  the 
bondholders,  collects  the  assessments,  and  calls  the 
bonds  for  payment  when  there  is  sufficient  money  in  the 
special  fund  which  the  council  has  established  for  this 
purpose.  City  councils  have  wide  authority  in  ordering 
improvements  which  are  to  be  paid  for  by  direct  tax- 
ation or  by  bond  issues  against  the  general  credit  of  the 
city,  but  unless  they  are  restricted  in  local  assessment 
improvements  there  is  a  possibility  of  piling  up  assess- 
ments for  several  purposes  against  a  property  until  it  is 
overwhelmed  and  its  owners  unable  to  pay.  Spokane 
limits  the  assessment  on  a  special  district  for  a  single 


166  MUNICIPAL  FINANCE 

improvement  to  fifty  per  cent  of  the  assessed  valuation 
(which  in  that  city  is  about  half  of  the  real  value  of 
the  property)  and  limits  the  total  unpaid  assessments 
for  all  special  improvements  to  sixty-five  per  cent  of 
assessed  valuation.  A  further  prohibition  is  that  no 
such  improvement  excepting  a  sewer  can  be  made  if  the 
owners  of  three-fourths  of  the  property  to  be  assessed 
file  a  written  protest  against  it.  A  fund  has  been  estab- 
lished into  which  go  all  overpayments,  penalties  and 
surpluses  from  all  local  improvement  districts,  and  this, 
in  addition  to  the  above-noted  restrictions  surrounding 
the  making  of  improvements  by  local  assessment,  con- 
stitutes an  effective  guarantee  of  the  bonds,  so  that  the 
contractor  may  find  a  ready  market  for  them. 

Sound  judgment  should  dictate  the  policy  of  the  city 
council  in  making  these  local  assessments,  in  order  to 
place  the  burden  of  cost  where  it  justly  belongs.  A 
new  street  or  pavement  will  be  a  benefit  to  the  abutting 
property,  but  it  will  also  be  of  advantage  to  the  whole 
city.  A  sewer  cannot  be  used  by  people  outside  of  the 
district  where  it  is  laid,  but  every  section  of  the  city 
which  becomes  properly  drained  is  of  decided  benefit 
to  every  citizen  in  elevating  the  general  standard  of 
sanitation.  The  pavement  of  a  street  which  is  a  con- 
nection with  an  arterial  country  highway  is  of  more 
advantage  to  the  city  as  a  whole  than  to  the  people 
living  on  the  street.  In  improving  a  city  street  the  best 
practice  is  to  place  a  portion  of  the  cost,  say  that  of  im- 
proving the  intersections,  upon  the  city  as  a  whole  and 
the  remainder  of  it  upon  the  owners  of  the  contiguous 


MUNICIPAL  FINANCE  167 

property,  extending  back  in  decreasing  ratio  to  the 
middle  of  the  block.  For  an  arterial  road  connection 
half  the  cost  may  be  properly  assessed  to  the  abutting 
property  and  the  remainder  be  paid  by  the  city  or  the 
county,  or  jointly  by  both. 

Municipal  Debt. — An  honest  man  will  not  con- 
tract a  debt  without  careful  consideration  of  the  time 
when  it  will  become  due  and  the  means  whereby  it  is 
to  be  paid,  but  cities  are  not  often  so  consistent  or  care- 
ful. The  easy  way  is  to  get  the  money,  spend  it,  and 
leave  to  future  officials  and  citizens  the  legacy  of  its 
repayment.  And  that  city  is  fortunate  whose  bonded 
debt  represents  money  carefully  spent  for  judicious 
purposes.  New  and  rapidly  growing  cities  often  need 
improvements,  the  cost  of  which  cannot  and  should  not 
be  borne  by  immediate  tax  levies.  It  is  fair  that  the  cost 
of  permanent  improvements  should  be  distributed  over 
future  years,  but  it  is  a  mistake  to  extend  payments 
beyond  a  reasonable  estimate  of  the  life  of  the  improve- 
ment, or  to  issue  bonds  for  any  purpose  without  making 
such  provision  for  their  retirement  as  cannot  be  escaped 
or  neglected  by  future  governments. 

The  old  practice  of  issuing  municipal  bonds  for  a 
stated  period,  all  maturing  at  the  close  of  the  term,  is 
now  pretty  generally  condemned.  Even  though  ordi- 
nances authorizing  such  issues  usually  contained  some 
provisions  for  sinking  funds  to  meet  payments  at  ma- 
turity, these  provisions  were  often  vague  and  easily 
avoided  by  public  officials  under  the  pressure  of  more 
immediate  needs  and  uses  for  money  and  conscious  of 


168  MUNICIPAL  FINANCE 

the  probability  that  when  the  time  came  for  repayment 
some  one  else  would  be  in  office  and  be  responsible.  The 
modern  method  is  to  issue  serial  bonds  payable  at  annual 
intervals  during  their  term,  with  payments  of  principal 
and  interest  so  arranged  as  to  make  the  annual  payments 
fairly  uniform,  either  beginning  at  the  time  of  issue  or 
a  few  years  thereafter  and  continuing  until  the  debt  is 
fully  paid.  The  Model  Charter  of  the  National  Munici- 
pal League  contains  this  excellent  provision:  "Every 
issue  of  bonds  shall  be  payable  within  a  term  of  years, 
not  to  exceed  the  estimated  period  of  utility  of  the  im- 
provement for  which  they  are  issued,  and  in  no  case 
to  exceed  thirty  years;  and  shall  be  payable  in  equal 
annual  serial  instalments,  including  principal  and 
interest.  Every  ordinance  for  the  issue  of  bonds  shall 
provide  for  a  tax  levy  for  each  year  to  meet  the  annual 
serial  instalments  of  principal  and  interest,  and  such 
amounts  shall  be  included  in  the  tax  levy  for  each  year." 
In  a  footnote  to  this  provision  it  is  stated  that  "in 
cities  where  subways  and  other  improvements  of  ex- 
traordinary cost  and  permanency  may  be  needed,  this 
period  may  be  extended  to  fifty  years." 

Floating  warrant  debt  and  short-time  borrowing  in 
anticipation  of  tax  receipts  to  meet  current  expenditures 
should  always  be  avoided.  Cities  should  be  upon  a 
cash  basis,  with  sufficient  ready  money  to  take  advan- 
tage of  low  prices  in  buying  supplies  and  to  profit  by 
the  cash  discounts  which  prevail  in  commercial  transac- 
tions. The  Sacramento  charter  provides  for  a  "per- 
manent revolving  fund  .  .  .  known  as  the  cash  basis 


MUNICIPAL  FINANCE  169 

fund,  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the  payment  of  the 
running  expenses  of  the  city  on  a  cash  basis,"  requiring 
that  this  fund  "shall  be  maintained  in  an  amount  suffi- 
cient to  meet  all  legal  demands  against  the  treasury  for 
the  first  four  months  or  other  necessary  periods  of  the 
succeeding  fiscal  year." 

The  Budget. — The  budget  system  is  now  in  use 
in  most  American  cities.  When  the  city  council  is  con- 
sidering the  appropriations  for  the  coming  fiscal  year 
preparatory  to  fixing  the  annual  tax  levy,  it  should 
have  for  its  guidance  a  tabulated  statement  of  past  and 
present  expenditures,  together  with  a  detailed  estimate 
of  the  needs  for  the  coming  year,  prepared  by  the  execu- 
tive officials.  A  list  of  employees  and  their  salaries 
should  accompany  this  estimate,  together  with  an  esti- 
mate by  the  financial  official  of  all  sources  of  income 
and  all  debt  obligations  for  the  coming  year.  The 
Dayton  charter  requires  the  city  manager  to  furnish 
the  city  commission,  sixty  days  before  the  beginning 
of  the  fiscal  year,  the  following  information : 

"(a)  A  detailed  estimate  of  the  expense  of  con- 
ducting each  department  as  submitted  by  the  depart- 
ment. 

"(b)  Expenditures  for  corresponding  items  for 
the  last  two  fiscal  years. 

"(c)  Expenditures  for  corresponding  items  for  the 
current  fiscal  year,  including  assessments  due  to  trans- 
fers between  appropriations  plus  an  estimate  of  expen- 
diture necessary  to  complete  the  current  fiscal  year. 


170  MUNICIPAL  FINANCE 

"(d)  Amount  of  supplies  and  materials  on  hand 
at  the  date  of  the  preparation  of  the  invoice. 

"(e)  Increase  or  decrease  of  requests  compared 
with  the  corresponding  appropriations  for  the  current 
year. 

"(f)  Such  other  information  as  is  required  by  the 
commission  or  that  the  city  manager  may  deem  it  advis- 
able to  submit. 

"(g)  The  recommendation  of  the  city  manager  as 
to  the  amounts  to  be  appropriated  with  reason  there- 
for in  such  detail  as  the  commission  may  direct." 

The  budget  is  finally  fixed  by  the  city  commission 
after  public  hearings  are  held  and  after  it  is  published 
for  ten  days,  and  the  commission  is  prohibited  from  in- 
curring any  obligations  for  the  expenditure  of  money 
except  pursuant  to  the  appropriations  authorized  in 
the  budget,  excepting  that  unincumbered  balances  may 
be  transferred  from  one  fund  to  another  to  meet  "a 
purpose  or  object  for  which  the  appropriation  for  the 
current  year  has  proved  insufficient." 


CHAPTER  IX 

OBLIGATIONS  OF  CITIZENSHIP 

We  have  seen  that  good  city  government  is  «^  prod-  k 
uct  of  three  principal  factors,  namely,  good  tools,  good  I 
men  in  public  office,  and  a  continuing  interest  in  public  I 
affairs  on  the  part  of  the  citizens.  Good  charters,  good 
laws  and  good  officials  will  work  wonders,  but  no 
government  will  reach  its  highest  attainment  without 
public  support  and  guidance,  constantly  available  and 
frequently  expressed.  Our  government  will  reflect  our 
own  attitude  toward  it.  If  we  are  content  to  abandon 
it  as  soon  as  election  is  over;  if  we  allow  our  interest 
to  lapse  after  we  have  cast  our  votes;  if,  indeed,  we 
neglect  even  the  simple  duty  of  expression  of  our  desires 
and  preferences  at  the  polls,  we  cannot  and  must  not 
expect  satisfactory  administration  of  our  public  affairs, 
or  responsiveness  on  the  part  of  our  officials  to 
the  changing  and  continuous  responsibilities  and  re- 
quirements of  municipal  life.  The  public  affairs  of  our 
city  are  our  collective  business  and  as  such  are  more 
important  than  any  citizen's  individual  business,  but 
there  are  so  many  of  us  that  as  individuals  we  are 
inclined  to  regard  our  part  in  the  public  business  as 
inconsequential  and  unimportant. 

171 


1 


172        OBLIGATIONS  OF  CITIZENSHIP 

The  prime  obligation  of  citizenship  is  the  develop- 
ment of  a  feeling  of  personal  responsibility  in  public 
affairs,  a  responsibility  that  will  compel  us  to  think  and 
to  act  in  civic  matters.  Society  is  not  a  vague  and  form- 
less mass;  it  is  an  entity  of  which  you  and  I  and  the 
neighbors  in  our  block  are  essential  parts,  and  in  the 
movements  of  which  we  are  vitally  interested.  If  we 
would  reform  society,  we  must  begin  with  ourselves. 
Robert  Louis  Stevenson  says :  "There  is  an  idea  abroad 
among  moral  people  that  they  should  make  their  neigh- 
bors good.  One  person  I  have  to  make  good — myself." 
A  sense  of  individual  responsibility  comes  through  an 
understanding  of  the  consequences  of  individual  neglect, 
and  a  desire  for  service  to  the  community.  Such  under- 
standing and  desire  must  develop  an  ideal  of  personal 
conduct  and  activity  in  public  affairs  and  point  the  way 
to  civic  duty. 

Lord  Bryce,  in  a  course  of  lectures  at  Yale  University 
which  were  later  published  under  the  title  "Hindrances 
to  Good  Citizenship,"  classified  the  reasons  for  our  civic 
failures  under  three  heads,  namely,  indolence,  private 
self-interest,  and  party  spirit.  The  first  two  are  common 
vices  which  undermine  character  and  cast  the  shadow  of 
their  evil  influence  over  all  human  relationships;  the 
last  applies  particularly  to  political  concerns.  Indolence 
keeps  us  from  thinking  as  well  as  from  acting.  It 
causes  us  to  avoid  forming  ideals  of  life  and  conduct 
and  prevents  the  expression  of  such  ideals  as  we  may 
develop.  An  ideal  in  itself  may  be  a  beautiful  dream, 
but  it  is  of  little  use  until  it  is  worked  out  in  terms  of  life 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  CITIZENSHIP        173 

and  conduct.  Through  indolence  we  postpone  and 
neglect  our  civic  obligations  and  thereby  often  allow 
a  minority  consisting  of  those  with  a  selfish  or  mer- 
cenary interest  in  politics  to  control  government;  and 
there  are  such  groups  in  every  city,  ready  to  take  con- 
trol if  honest  and  respectable  citizens  are  too  indolent 
to  perform  their  public  duties.  Through  indolence  we 
avoid  the  study  of  that  very  important  human  associa- 
tion, our  relationship  to  government.  We  neglect  the 
thought  of  what  we  can  and  should  expect  of  our  public 
officials,  and  the  means  whereby  the  best  results  may  be 
obtained. 

Through  private  self-interest  we  seek  special  privi- 
lege in  governmental  matters.  We  ask  those  favors 
and  abatements  which  we  know  cannot  be  granted  with- 
out damage  or  injustice  to  others,  and  to  which  we  are 
not  properly  or  honestly  entitled.  We  avoid  the  broader 
view  that  what  is  good  for  the  people  of  the  city  is  the 
best  for  us  as  individuals,  and  that  service  to  others 
is  the  only  real  means  of  accomplishing  our  own  happi- 
ness and  well-being.  One  of  the  discouraging  features 
of  holding  public  office  is  the  discovery  of  the  consider- 
able number  of  citizens,  otherwise  honest,  who  think  it 
no  wrong  to  cheat  and  take  advantage  of  the  cky. 
Stealing  a  few  thousand  gallons  of  water  will  not  make 
a  great  annual  deficit  in  the  water  revenues  and  has 
never  been  known  to  land  the  culprit  in  jail;  the  evil 
effect  is  upon  the  thief,  not  in  any  possible  punishment 
for  the  offense,  but  in  the  lowering  of  the  moral  tone 
of  the  citizen.  No  man  can  respect  himself  who  knows, 


174        OBLIGATIONS  OF  CITIZENSHIP 

deep  down  in  his  heart,  that  he  is  a  thief,  and  self-re- 
spect is  a  preliminary  to  all  good  citizenship. 

Party  spirit,  in  the  sense  that  it  is  one  of  the  chief 
hindrances  to  good  citizenship,  is  that  adherence  to  a 
political  party  which  overlooks  the  importance  of  mea- 
sures and  men  and  follows  blindly  the  leadership  of  the 
party.  National  political  parties,  as  such,  have  no 
proper  place  in  municipal  affairs,  and  many  of  our 
smaller  cities  have  recognized  this  fact  in  the  abolition 
of  party  caucuses,  conventions  and  the  use  of  party 
emblems  in  municipal  elections.  Loyalty  to  a  party 
emblem,  pride  in  belonging  to  a  party  organization, 
personal  adherence  to  party  leaders,  may  be  of  value  in 
national  elections,  if,  as  many  believe,  national  parties 
are  necessary  in  a  democracy,  but  in  our  local  govern- 
mental affairs,  where  local  measures  and  local  men  are 
of  the  greatest  importance,  that  party  spirit  which 
allows  the  voter  to  be  unerringly  placed  in  the  party 
pigeonhole,  is  a  detriment  to  good  government. 

It  is  a  slow  process  to  learn  to  think  for  ourselves.  It 
is  so  much  easier  to  take  our  opinions  ready-made  from 
the  party  leader,  the  propagandist  or  the  newspaper. 
Understanding  the  indolence,  selfishness  and  party 
spirit  of  such  a  large  element  of  our  citizenship,  the 
agencies  organized  for  selfish  propaganda  grow  larger 
every  year  and  the  country  is  flooded  with  special  pleas 
for  selfish  interests.  Expensive  organizations  are  main- 
tained in  Washington  and  elsewhere  for  the  sole  pur- 
pose of  disseminating  one-sided  views  promoting 
selfish  schemes;  lecturers,  authors  and  newspapers  sell 


OBLIGATIONS  OF  CITIZENSHIP,,       175 

themselves  to  this  unpatriotic  and  unwholesome  effort 
to  mould  public  opinion  to  base  purposes.  There  never 
has  been  a  time  when  the  citizen  of  a  democracy  should 
be  as  wary  and  as  wise  as  the  present  time  demands. 

The  wise  citizen  understands  how  intimately  his  own 
welfare  is  bound  up  with  that  of  all  his  fellows;  how 
closely  his  freedom  and  his  happiness  depend  upon  the 
freedom  and  happiness  of  all.  He  studies  the  obstacles 
in  the  path  of  good  government  in  order  to  help  remove 
them;  he  gives  attention  to  every  new  proposal  for 
improvement  in  methods  and  structures  of  government 
in  order  that  he  may  help  to  inaugurate  in  his  own  city 
those  innovations  of  which  his  judgment  approves. 
He  believes  in  democracy,  in  the  inherent  goodness  of 
men,  in  himself,  and  in  the  existence  of  a  Power  which 
makes  for  righteousness. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

A  Selected  List  of  Books 

prepared  by  the  Research  Division  of  the 

American  City  Bureau 

New  York  City 
Citizenship : 

1.  Americanization,  Royal  Dixon.     The  Macmillan 

Co.,  N.  Y.,  1916.     106  pp. 

2.  Problems    of    Americanization,    Peter    Roberts. 

The  Macmillan  Co.,  N.  Y.     254  pp. 

3.  Citizenship:     An   introduction  to   Social   Ethics, 

Milton  Bennion.     World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers- 
on-Hudson,  N.  Y.     1917.     181  pp. 

4.  Community  Civic,  Field  and  Nearing.    The  Mac- 

millan Co.,  N.  Y.     1916.     280  pp. 

5.  A  Course  in  Citizenship,  Cabot,  Andrews,  Coe, 

Hill  and  McSkimmon.     The  Macmillan   Co., 
N.  Y.     1920.     386  pp. 

6.  Community  Organization,  Joseph  K.  Hart.     The 

Macmillan  Co.,  N.  Y.     230  pp. 

7.  American  Democracy,  S.  E.  Forman.     The  Cen- 

tury Co.,  N.  Y.     1920.     474  pp. 

8.  Universal   Training   for    Citizenship   and   Public 

Service,  Wm.  H.  Allen.    The  Macmillan  Co., 
N.  Y.     1917.     290  pp. 
177 


178  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

9.  Woman's  Work  in  Municipalities,  Mary  R.  Beard. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  N.  Y.     1915.     344  pp. 

City  Planning: 

1.  The  Planning  of  the  Modern  City,  by  Nelson  P. 

Lewis.     John  Wiley  Sons,  New  York.     423  pp. 

2.  City  Planning  Progress  in  the  United  States,  1917. 

The  Octagon,  Wash.,  D.  C.     1917. 

3.  City    Planning;    with    special    reference    to    the 

planning  of  streets  and  lots,  Chas.   Mulford 
Robinson.    G.  P.  Putnam  Sons,  N.  Y.    360  pp. 

4.  Town  Planning  for  Small  Communities,  Chas.  S. 

Bird.     D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  N.  Y.     492  pp. 

5.  City  Planning,  edited  by  John  Nolen.     D.  Apple- 

ton  &  Co.,  N.  Y.    447  pp. 

6.  New  Ideals  in  the  Planning  of  Cities,  Towns  and 

Villages,  John  Nolen,  American  City  Bureau, 
N.  Y.     1920.     139  pp. 

7.  Town  Improvement,  Fred'k  N.  Evans.     D.  Ap- 

pleton &  Co.,  N.  Y.     1919.     261  pp. 

8.  The  Making  of  a  Town,  Frank  L.  McVey.     Mc- 

Clurg  &  Co.,  Chicago,  111.     1919.     201  pp. 

9.  Carrying  Out  the  City  Plan,  F.  Shurtleff  and  F. 

L.  Olmsted.     Survey  Associates,  N.  Y.     1913. 

349  PP- 

10.  Municipal  Landing  Fields,  Geo.  S.  Wheat.     Put- 
nam Sons,  N.  Y.     1921.     96  pp. 

Fire  Prevention  and  Protection: 

1.  Handbook  of  Fire  Protection,  by  Crosby,  Fiske 

and'Forster.     D.  Van  Nostrand  Co.,  N.  Y. 

757  PP- 

2.  Fires    and    Fire-Fighters,    John    Kenlon.      Geo. 

Doran  &  Co.,  N.  Y.     1919.     310  pp. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  179 

3.  Fire  Prevention,  Edward  F.  Croker.    Dodd,  Mead 

&  Co.,  4th  Ave.,  N.  Y.     1912.     354  pp. 

4.  Fire  Prevention  and  Fire  Protection  as  Applied 

to   Building   Construction,   by  J.   K.   Freitag. 
John  Wiley  &  Sons,  432  Fourth  Ave.,  N.  Y. 

Foods  and  Markets: 

1.  City  Milk  Supply,  by  H.  N.  Parker.     McGraw- 

Hill  Co.,  loth  Ave.  at  36th  St.,  N.  Y.     1917. 
494  pp. 

2.  Lower  Living  Costs  in  Cities:     A  Constructive 

Program  for  Urban  Efficiency,  Clyde  L.  King. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  29-35  W.  32d  St.,  N.  Y. 

355  PP- 

3.  The  Price  of  Milk,  Clyde  L.  King.    J.  C.  Winston, 

Phila.,  Pa.     1920.     307  pp. 

Health  and  Sanitation: 

1.  The    Health    Officer,    by    Overton    and    Denno. 

Saunders,  Phila.,  Pa.     1919.     512  pp. 

2.  Handbook  on   Sanitation,   by   George  M.   Price. 

John  Wiley  &  Sons,  N.  Y.     1913.     353  pp. 

3.  Public  Health  and  Hygiene,  By  William  H.  Park, 

M.D.  Lea  &  Febiger,  Phila.,  Pa.   1920.  884  pp. 

4.  Vital  Statistics,  George  C.  Whipple.     517  pp. 

5.  Manual  for  Health  Officers,  by  J.   S.  MacNutt. 

John  Wiley  &  Sons,  N.  Y.     1915.     650  pp. 

6.  Health    Education    in    Rural    Schools,    J.    Mace 

Andress.     Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  4  Park  St., 
Boston,  Mass.     1919.     321  pp. 

7.  Hygiene    of    the    School    Child,    by    Lewis    M. 

Terman.    Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 
1917.     417  pp. 

8.  Medical  Inspection  of  Schools,  Gulick  and  Ayres. 

Survey  Associates,  N.  Y.     1913.     224  pp. 


180  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Highway  Building  and  Maintenance: 

1.  American  Civil  Engineers'  Handbook.    Mansfield 

Merriman.    John  Wiley  &  Sons,  N.  Y.     1920. 

1955  PP- 

2.  American  Highway  Engineers'  Handbook,  Arthur 

H.   Blanchard.     John  Wiley  &  Sons,  N.   Y. 

1550  PP- 

3.  The  Civil  Engineer's  Pocket  Book,  John  C.  Traut- 

wine.     D.  Van  Nostrand  Co.,  25  Park  Place, 
N.  Y.     1913.     1300  pp. 

4.  Dust    Preventives    and    Road    Binders,    Prevost 

Hubbard.    John  Wiley  &  Sons,  N.  Y.     1920. 
416  pp. 

5.  Elements  ot  Highway  Engineering,  by  Arthur  H. 

Blanchard.    John  Wiley  &  Sons,  N.  Y.    514  pp. 

6.  Highway  Engineers'  Handbook,  by  Harger  and 

Bonney.    McGraw-Hill  Book  Co.,  N.  Y.    1919. 
986  pp. 

7.  Highway  Inspectors'  Handbook,  by  Prevost  Hub- 

bard.     John  Wiley  &  Sons,  N.  Y.     372  pp. 

8.  The  Modern  Asphalt  Pavement,  Clifford  Richard- 

son. John  Wiley  &  Sons,  N.  Y.   1912.  629  pp. 

Housing: 

1.  Industrial  Housing,  Morris  L.  Knowles.  McGraw- 

Hill  Book  Co.,  N.  Y.     1920.     408  pp. 

2.  The  Joke  About  Housing,  by  Charles  H.  Whit- 

taker.      Marshall   Jones    Co.,    Boston,    Mass. 
1920.     233  pp. 

3.  The  Housing  Famine,  J.  J.  Murphy,  E.  E.  Wood 

and  F.  L.  Ackerman.     E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co., 
68 1  Fifth  Ave.,  N.  Y.     1920.     246  pp. 

4.  Model  Housing  Law,  Lawrence  Veiller.     Survey 

Assoc.,  105  E.  22d  St.,  N.  Y.     1920.     430  pp. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  181 

5.  Housing  and  Town  Planning,  American  Academy 

of  Political  and  Social  Science,  Phila.,  Pa. 
296  pp. 

6.  Housing  and  Housing  Problem,  Carol  Aronovici. 

A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co.,  330-352  E.  Ohio  St., 
Chicago,  111.  163  pp. 

7.  Good  Housing  that  Pays,   Fullerton  L.   Waldo. 

The  Harper  Press,  Phila.,  Pa.     126  pp. 

Municipal  Finance: 

1.  The    Budget   and    Responsible    Government,    by 

F.  A.  Cleveland  and  A.  E.  Buck.  The  Mac- 
millan  Co.,  N.  Y.  1920.  406  pp. 

2.  Budget  Making  in  a  Democracy,  Edward  A.  Fitz- 

patrick.     The  Macmillan  Co.,  N.  Y.     327  pp. 

3.  Municipal    Accounting,    DeWitt    C.     Eggleston. 

Ronald  Press  Co.,  N.  Y.     1914.     456  pp. 

4.  Principles    of    Government    Purchasing,    A.    G. 

Thomas.     D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  N.  Y.     274  gp. 

Municipal  Government: 

1.  American   Municipal   Progress,   Charles  Zueblin. 

The  Macmillan  Co.,  N.  Y.     1916.     537  pp. 

2.  City  Government  by  Commission,  Clinton  Rogers 

Woodruff.  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  N.  Y.  1911. 
381  pp. 

3.  City   Manager   in   Dayton,   Chester  E.   Rightor. 

The  Macmillan  Co.,  N.  Y.     286  pp. 

4.  Experts  in  City  Government,   Edward  A.   Fitz- 

patrick.     D.   Appleton  &  Co.,   N.   Y.      1919. 

363  PP- 

5.  History  and  Analysis  of  the  Commission  and  City 

Manager  Plans  of  Municipal  Government  in 
the  United  States,  Tso-Shuen  Chang.  Univ. 
of  Iowa.  290  pp. 


182  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

6.  The  Initiative,   Referendum  and  Recall,  W.   B. 

Munro.     D.   Appleton  &  Co.,   N.   Y.      1912. 

365  PP- 

7.  Municipal  Functions,  H.  G.  James.    D.  Appleton 

&  Co.,  N.  Y.     1917.     369  pp. 

8.  Municipal    Government,    Goodnow    and    Bates. 

The   Century  Co.,   353   Fourth  Ave.,   N.   Y. 

1904.     453  PP- 

9.  A    New    Municipal    Program,    Clington    Rogers 

Woodruff.     D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  N.  Y.     1919. 
392  pp. 

10.  Principles  and  Methods  of  Municipal  Administra- 

tion, W.  B.  Munro.    The  Macmillan  Co.,  N.  Y. 
1916.     491  pp. 

11.  The  City  Manager  Plan:    Selected  Articles,  com- 

piled by  E.  C.  Mabie.    The  H.  W.  Wilson  Co., 
N.  Y.     245  pp. 

12.  Sixth  Year  Book  of  the  City  Managers'  Associa- 

tion, City  Bldg.,  Clarksburg,  W.  Va.     183  gp. 

Parks: 

1.  Parks  and  Park  Engineering,  W.  T.  Lyle.    John 

Wiley  &  Sons,  N.  Y.     130  pp. 

2.  Parks,  Their  Design,  Equipment  and  Use,  George 

Bumap.      J.    B.    Lippincott    Co.,    Phila.,    Pa. 
1916.     310  pp. 

3.  Shade  Trees  in  Towns  and  Cities,  by  William 

Solotaroff.  John  Wiley  &  Sons,  N.  Y.   287  pp. 

Policing  the  City: 

1.  American  Police  Systems,  R.  B.  Fosdick.     The 

Century  Co.,  N.  Y.     1920.     408  pp. 

2.  Crime    Prevention,    Arthur    Woods.      Princeton 

University   Press.      Princeton,    N.   J.      1918. 
136  pp. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  183 

3.  Enforcement  of  Law  in  Cities,  Brand  Whitlock. 

Bobbs-Merrill  Co.,  University  Sq.,  Indianapolis, 
^  Ind.     1913.     95  pp. 

4.  European  Police  Systems,  R.  B.  Fosdick.     The 

Century  Co.,  N.  Y.     1915.     442  pp. 

5.  Policeman    and    Public,    Arthur    Woods.     Yale 

University  Press,  120  College  St.,  New  Haven, 
Conn.     1919.     178  pp. 

Public  Utilities: 

1.  Proceedings,  Public  Ownership  Conference,  No- 

vember  1919.     Public  Ownership  League  of 
America.     290  pp. 

2.  Municipal    Franchises,    Delos    F.    Wilcox.      Mc- 

Graw-Hill Book  Co.,  N.  Y.     1910.     2  vols., 
710  and  885  pp. 

3.  Municipal  Owner-ship,  Carl  D.  Thompson,  B.  W. 

Ruebach  Co.,  N!  Y.     114  pp. 

4.  The  Regulation  of  Municipal  Utilities,  edited  by 

Clyde  L.  King.     D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  N.  Y. 
1912.     404  pp. 

5.  The  Results  of   Municipal   Electric  Lighting  in 

Massachusetts.      E.    E.    Lincoln.      Houghton 
Mifflin  &  Co.,  Boston,  Mass.     484  pp. 

6.  Selected  Articles  on  Municipal  Ownership,  com- 

piled by  J.  E.  Johnson.     The  H.  W.  Wilson 
&  Co.,  N.  Y.     334  pp. 

Recreation  and  Social  Welfare: 

1.  Community  Center  Activities,  C.  A.  Perry.    The 

Russell  Sage  Foundation,  130  E.  22d  St.,  N.  Y. 
^  1917.     127  pp. 

2.  Education  Through  Play,  Henry  S.  Curtis.     The 

Macmillan  Co.,  N.  Y.     1915.     380  pp. 


184  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

3.  Community  Recreation,  by  Playground  Associa- 

tion of  America,  New  York.     122  pp. 

4.  The  Play  Movement  and  Its  Significance,  H.  S. 

Curtis.      The   Macmillan   Co.,   N.    Y.      1917. 
361  pp. 

5.  Popular  Amusements,  R.  H.  Edwards.     Associa- 

tion Press,  347  Madison  Ave.,  N.  Y.     1915. 
250  pp. 

6.  Play  in  Education,  Joseph  Lee.     The  Macmillan 

Co.,  N.  Y.     1915.     523  pp. 

7.  The  Social  Center,  edited  by  E.  J.  Ward.     D. 

Appleton  &  Co.,  N.  Y,     1913.    359  pp. 

Schools: 

1.  Schools  of  Tomorrow,  John  and  Evelyn  Dewey. 

E.  P.  Button  &  Co.,  N.  Y.     316  pp. 

2.  New  Schools   for  Old,   Evelyn  Dewey.     E.   P. 

Button  &  Co.,  N..Y.     337  pp. 

3.  Learning    to    Earn,    Lapp    and    Mote.      Bobbs- 

Merrill,  Indianapolis,  Ind.     1915.     421  pp. 

4.  Establishing  Industrial  Schools,  Harry  B.  Smith. 

Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  N.  Y.     1916.     167  pp. 

5.  The  Gary  Schools,  A.  Flexner  and  E.  P.  Bach- 

man.     Houghton   Mifflin   Co.,    N.    Y.     1916. 
265  pp. 

6.  Readings  in  Vocational  Guidance,  Meyer  Bloom- 

field.    Ginn  &  Co.,  N.  Y.    1915.    723  pp. 

Taxation: 

1.  The    Principles    of    Taxation,    Hastings    Lyon. 

Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  N.  Y.     133  pp. 

2.  Shifting  and   Incidents  of   Taxation,   E.   R.   A. 

Seligman.    Lemcke,  Buechner,  N.  Y.    427  pp. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  186 

Waste  Disposal: 

1.  American  Sewerage  Practice,  Metcalf  and  Eddy. 

McGraw-Hill  Book  Co.,  N.  Y.     3  vols.  747, 
564  and  878  pp. 

2.  Sewage  Disposal,  George  W.  Fuller.     McGraw- 

Hill  Book  Co.,  N.  Y.     767  pp. 

3.  Sewage  Disposal,  Kinnicutt,  Winslow  and  Pratt. 

John  Wiley  &  Sons,  N.  Y.     436  pp. 

4.  Municipal  House  Cleaning,  Capes  and  Carpfenter. 

E.  P.  Dutton  Co.,  N.  Y.     231  pp. 

5.  Modern    Destructor   Practice,    W.    F.    Goodrich. 

J.  B.  Lippincott  Co.,  Phila.,  Pa.    278  pp. 

6.  Collection  &  Disposal   of   Municipal   Refuse,  by 

Adolph  Hering  and  S.  A.  Greeley.     McGraw- 
Hill  Book  Co.     1921.     653  pp. 

Water  Supply  and  Purification: 

1.  Water  Purification,  Joseph  W.  Ellms.     McGraw- 

Hill  Book  Co.,  N.  Y.     485  pp. 

2.  Water  Purification  Plants  and  Their  Operation, 

Milton  F.  Stein.     John  Wiley  &  Sons,  N.  Y. 
265  pp. 

3.  Waterworks     Handbook,     Flinn,     Weston     and 

Bogert.  McGraw-Hill  Book  Co.,  N.  Y.  824  pp. 

4.  Waterworks  Management  and  Maintenance,  Hub- 

bard  and  Kiersted.    John  Wiley  &  Sons,  N.  Y. 
429  pp. 

5.  Microscopy  of  Drinking  Water,  George  C.  Whip- 

pie.   John  Wiley  &  Sons,  N.  Y.    1914.   409  pp. 

6.  Meter    Rates   for   Water   Works,    Allen   Hazen. 

John  Wiley  &  Sons,  N.  Y.     217  pp. 

7.  Elements  of  Hydrology,  Adolph  F.  Meyer.    John 

Wiley  &  Sons,  N.  Y.     1917.     487  pp. 

8.  Hydrology,  by  Daniel  W.  Mead.     McGraw-Hill 

Co.,  N.  Y.     1917.     650  pp. 


186  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

9.  Examination   of   Water,   W.    P.    Mason.      John 

Wiley  &  Sons,  N.  Y.     1917.     186  pp. 
10.  Public  Water  Supplies,  Turneaure  and  Russell. 

John  Wiley  &  Sons,  N.  Y.     808  pp. 
n.  Water  Supply,   W.   P.   Mason.     John  Wiley  & 

Sons,  N.  Y.     528  pp. 
12.  Chlorination  of  Water,  Joseph  Race.    John  Wiley 

&  Sons,  N.  Y.     1919.     158  pp. 


INDEX 


Accounting  systems,  municipal, 
94-96 

Administration,  of  schools,  127- 
129;  of  streets,  129-131;  of 
sewers,  131-133 ;  of  police  de- 
partment, 133-134;  of  fire  de- 
partment, 134-136;  of  health 
department,  136-137;  of  mar- 
kets, 137-139;  of  police 
courts,  139-140;  of  recrea- 
tional activities,  140-141 ;  of 
charities,  141-142;  of  free 
employment  agencies,  142- 
143;  of  public  utilities,  143- 
144;  of  water  works,  148- 
150;  of  gas  works,  150-151; 
of  electric  light  and  power, 
151-152;  of  telephone  service, 
I52-I53 ;  of  street  transporta- 
tion, I53-I5S 

Aldermen,  22;  qualifications  of, 

IOO-IOI 

America,  cities  in,  15-21 
Annapolis,  Md.,  borough  form 

of  government  in,  23 
Antioch,  ancient,  4 
Antonines,  reign  of,  3 
Appointment    of    officials    and 

employes,    84;    merit    system 

of,  84-89 
Aristocracies  in   ancient  cities, 

3 
Ashtabula,    Ohio,    proportional 

system  of  voting  in,  76 
Assessments,  local,  163-167 
Auditor,  duties  of,  94-96 
Automobiles,  problems  of  street 

transportation       complicated 

by,  i53 


Ballot,  length  of,  in  mayor- 
council  type  of  city  govern- 
ment, 30-31 ;  short  form  of, 
in  responsible  executive  type 
of  government,  34;  under 
commission  form,  37;  short, 
in  preferential  system,  69-71 

Baltimore,  early  population  of, 

15 

Boards,  administrative,  89-90 ; 
for  administering  schools, 
127-128.  See  Administration 

Bonds,  payment  for  local  im- 
provements in,  165;  methods 
of  issuing  municipal,  167-168 

Borough,  the  English,  15 ;  ex- 
amples of,  in  New  England, 
22;  the  early  American,  22-23 

Boston,  early  population  of,  15 

Boulder,  Colo.,  proportional 
system  of  voting  in,  76 

Boulevard  systems  in  cities,  141 

Bribery  in  elections,  80 

Bryce,  James,  quoted,  20;  "Hin- 
drances to  Good  Citizenship," 
cited,  172 

Bucklin  system  of  voting,  60 

Budget  system  in  cities,  169-170 

Burgomaster  in  Prussian  city, 
11-12 

Canada,  proportional  system  of 
voting  in,  76 

Candidates  for  office,  limita- 
tions on  personal  efforts  of, 
80-81 

"Cash  basis"  funds,  168-169 

Caucus  system  of  nomination, 
67 


187 


188 


INDEX 


Charities,  administration  of, 
141-142 

Charter  commissions,  49;  or- 
ganization and  work  of,  55 

Charters,  city,  17-18;  of  Col- 
orado cities,  18;  the  funda- 
mental law  of  cities,  48;  more 
permanent  than  statutes  and 
ordinances,  49;  common 
faults  of,  49-51 ;  short  and 
concise  vs.  lengthy,  51 ;  meth- 
ods of  obtaining  new,  51-52; 
in  cities  of  Eastern  and  Mid- 
dle States  mostly  granted  by 
legislatures,  52 ;  machinery 
for  obtaining  new,  55 ;  ele- 
ments which  oppose  changes 
in,  55-56 ;  Model  City  Charter 
as  a  pattern  for,  56-64 

Chemist,  the  city,  106-108;  work 
of,  in  connection  with  gas 
supply,  150 

Chicago,  Municipal  Voters' 
League  of,  46*;  home  rule 
provisions  for,  53;  taxing 
authorities  in,  159-160 

City,  scope  of  term,  i ;  origins 
of  the,  1-2;  the  ancient,  2-4; 
the  medieval,  4-8;  the  mod- 
ern, 8-10;  the  German,  10; 
in  England,  13-15;  forms  of 
government  in  the  American, 
22-47;  obligations  of  citizens, 

.171-175 

City  government,  borough  form 
of,  22-23;  town  meeting  sys- 
tem, 23-27;  the  federal  type, 
27-30 ;  mayor-council  type, 
30-34 ;  responsible  executive 
type,  34-37 ;  commission  form 
of,  37-40;  city  manager  form, 
40-44;  influence  of  form  in, 

,,44-47 

City  manager,  27,  40-44,  92; 
subject  to  recall  in  Dayton, 
82 

Civil  service  reform,  85-89 

Clerk,  in  English  city,  14-15 


Cleveland,  charter  of,  66;  vot- 
ing in,  69,  76;  the  recall  in, 
83;  civil  service  rules  in,  88; 
Municipal  Association  of,  88- 
89;  powers  and  duties  of 
mayor  in,  92;  charter  pro- 
visions regarding  city  ordi- 
nances, 120;  initiative  in,  125; 
police  courts  in,  139;  public 
utility  franchises  in,  146-147; 
local  assessments  in,  163- 
164 

Colorado,  home  rule  provisions 
in  constitution  of,  18,  54 

Commerce,  a  reason  for  exist- 
ence of  cities,  4 

Commission  form  of  city  gov- 
ernment, 37-40;  position  of 
mayor  under,  92-94 

Commissions,  administrative, 
89-90 

Comptroller,  duties  of,  04-96 

Convention  system  of  nomina- 
tion, 66,  67-68 

Correctional  institutions,  city, 
141-142 

Council,  in  Prussian  city,  n, 
12;  in  English  city,  14;  in 
federal  type  of  government, 
28-29;  i°  mayor-council  type 
of  government,  30-33,  66; 
under  commission  form,  38, 
39;  under  city  manager  form, 
41,  42,  118;  confirmation  of 
mayor's  or  manager's  ap- 
pointments by,  84;  qualifica- 
tions and  responsibilities  of 
members,  115-116;  meetings 
of,  116-119;  preparation  of 
budget  for,  169-170 

Courts,  municipal,   139-140 

Curtis,  G.  W.,  civil  service  re- 
former, 85 

Dark  Ages,  period  called,  4-5 
Dayton,  system  of  nomination 

in,  67;  charter  of,  68,   102; 

city  manager  subject  to  recall 


INDEX 


189 


in,  82 ;  auditing  system  in,  96 ; 

city  treasurer  in,  98;  director 

of  public  service  in,  113-114; 

budget  provisions  in,  169-170 
Debts,  municipal,  99,  167-169 
Deming,  H.  E.,  "Government  of 

American  Cities,"  quoted,  53 
Democracies  in  ancient  cities,  3 
Departrrfents,  duties  of  heads 

of,     101-104;    administration 

of,  127-144 

Des  Mpines,  charter  of,  51 
Despotisms,  military,  in  ancient 

cities,  3 

Eaton,  Dorman  B.,  quoted,  13 

Egypt,  early  cities  in,  2 

Elections,  importance  of,  as 
privilege  and  duty  of  citizen- 
ship, 65 ;  frequency  of,  65-66 ; 
nominations  in,  66-68;  pri- 
mary, 68-69;  preferential  sys- 
tem, 69-71 ;  proportional  rep- 
resentation system,  71 ;  sin- 
gle-member district  system, 
72-73;  general  ticket  system, 
73;  getting  out  the  vote  in, 
76-80;  frauds  in,  80-81 

Electric  light  and  power,  city 
duties  connected  with,  151- 
152 

Emergency  ordinances,  precau- 
tions concerning,  120-121 

Employment  agencies,  city,  142- 
143 

Engineer,  city,  104-106 

England,  medieval  cities  in,  7, 
8;  modern  cities  in,  9,  13-15 

Fairlie,  J.  A.,  definition  of  mu- 
nicipality by,  i 

Federal  type  of  city  govern- 
ment, 27-30 

Fees,  city  revenue  from,  163 
Feudalism,  institution  of,  6-7 
Finance,  municipal,  158-170 
Fire    department,     administra- 
tion of,  134-136 


Fiske,  John,  quoted,  44 

Flint,  Mich.,  city  engineer  in, 
105-106 

Franchises,  public  utility,  146- 
148;  of  gas  companies,  150; 
of  telephone  companies,  152- 
153 ;  "service  at  cost,"  for 
street  railways,  155 ;  taxes  on, 
illogical  and  unjust,  162 

Frauds  in  elections,  80-81 

Free  holder  s*  commissions, 
granting  of  charters  by,  51 

Galvestpn,  commission  govern- 
ment in,  37;  charter  of,  51 

Garbage  collection,  placed  in 
health  department,  137 

Gas-works,  managers  of,  m- 
112;  city  administrative  du- 
'ties  pertaining  to,  150-151 

General  ticket  system  of  elec- 
tion, 73 

Germany,  cities  in,  9,  10-13 

Gibbon,  E.,  quoted,  2,  3 

Godkin,  "Unforeseen  Tenden- 
cies of  Democracy,"  cited,  79 

Good  government  movement  in 
American  cities,  18-20 

Gopdnow,  F.  J.,  on  the  initia- 
tive, 126 

Government.  See  City  govern- 
ment 

Grand  Junction,  Colo.,  prefer- 
ential system  of  voting  at,  69 

Grand  Rapids,  charter  of,  51; 
city  purchasing  agent  in,  109- 

IIO 

Great  Charter  in  England,  7 
Green,  Mrs.  J.  R.,  quoted,  8 

Hare  system  of  voting,  37,  60; 
account  of,  76-79 

Health  department,  administra- 
tion of,  136-137 

Home  rule,  policy  of,  and  rela- 
tion to  municipal  charters,  48, 
53;  increased  demand  for, 
54 ;  constitutional  amendments 


190 


INDEX 


looking    toward,     54;     steps 
necessary  to  bring  about,  54- 

Houston,  charter  of,  51 

Improvements,     local     assess- 
ments  for,   163-166 
Indolence,  a  cause  of  civic  fail- 
ure, 172-173 

Industries,  taxation  of,  161-162 
Initiative,  the,  81,  122-126 
Inspection  fees,  revenue  from, 

163 

Ireland,  proportional  represen- 
tation in,  76 

Kalamazoo,  the  recall  in,  82; 
initiative  and  referendum  in, 
124;  police  courts  in,  139; 
public  utility  franchises  in, 
146 

Labor  agencies,  free,  142-143 
Legislatures,  granting  of  char- 
ters by,  51 

Licenses,  revenue  from,  161-162 
London,  in  I7th  century,  13-14; 
Lord  Mayor  of,  15 ;  old  city 
proper  of,  15 

Magistral,  board  called,  in 
Prussian  city,  12 

Manchester,  England,  parlia- 
mentary authority  over,  14 

Manchester,  N.  H.,  charter  of, 
52 

Markets,  administration  of,  137- 

139 

Massachusetts,  proposed  fine 
for  non-voting  citizens  in,  80 

Mayor,  in  English  city,  14,  15 ; 
in  American  city,  16;  under 
borough  form  of  govern- 
ment, 22;  in  modern  Amer- 
ican borough,  23;  in  federal 
type  of  government,  28;  in 
mayor-council  type  of  gov- 
ernment, 30-33;  in  responsi- 


ble executive  type  of  govern- 
ment, 34-36;  under  commis- 
sion   form,   37,    38;    position 
and   duties  of,   in  American 
city  government,  91-94 
Mayor-council  type  of  city  gov- 
ernment, 30-34 
Merit   system   of   appointment, 

84-89 

Middle  Ages,  cities  in,  4-8 
Model  City  Charter.    See  Na- 
tional Municipal  League 
Moderator  of  town  meeting,  24 
Monarchies,    in    ancient    cities, 

3 

Multnomah  County,  Oregon, 
taxing  authorities  in,  160 

Municipal  Corporations  Act, 
English,  13 

Municipality,  defined,  I 

Municipal  Voters'  League,  Chi- 
cago, quoted,  46 

Munro,  W.  B.,  quoted,  71 ;  on 
the  referendum,  122 

National  Municipal  League, 
city  manager  form  of  gov- 
ernment approved  by,  41 ; 
Model  Charter  of,  51,  122, 
125,  136,  168;  home  rule  pro- 
vision recommended  by,  54; 
provisions  of  Model  City 
Charter,  56-64;  civil  service 
section  of  Model  Charter, 
89;  six  departments  provided 
for,  102;  duties  and  qualifi- 
cations of  utility  manager, 
114 

New  England,  town  meeting 
system  in,  17,  23-27;  borough 
government  in,  22 

New  York  City,  incorporation 
of,  as  a  borough  (1653),  15; 
changed  to  municipal  cor- 
poration (1664),  !5;  early 
population  of,  15;  receives 
first  charter  (1686),  16;  re- 
view of  city  government  of, 


INDEX 


191 


16;  authority  of  state  legis- 
lature over,  52-53. 

Nominations  in  city  elections, 
66-68 

Norfolk,  Va.,  borough  form  of 
government  in,  23 

Oakland,  Cal.,  the  initiative  in, 

123-124 
Obligations  of  citizenship,  171- 

175 

Official  gazette,  publication  of, 
116 

Ordinances,  city,  119-121;  the 
referendum  a  means  of  sub- 
mitting to  people,  12 1 -122 

Oregon,  home  rule  provisions 
in  constitution  of,  18,  54 

Parks  and  playgrounds,  city, 
140-141 

Parliament,  English  city  the 
creature  of,  14 

Party  spirit,  a  hindrance  to 
good  citizenship,  172,  174 

Petition,  nomination  by,  67;  a 
disadvantage  of,  68 

Petitions,  for  referendum  and 
initiative,  121-126 

"Petition  shoving,"  evil  of,  124 

Philadelphia,  early  population 
of,  15 ;  incorporation  as  a 
city  (1701),  16;  borough 
form  of  government  in,  22, 
23 

Pittsburgh,  taxation  methods 
in,  160 

Pofice,  appointment  of,  84; 
services  of  city  chemist  to, 
108;  importance  of  adminis- 
tration of,  as  a  city  task,  133- 
134 

Police  courts,  organization  of, 
139-140 

Politicians,  opposition  of,  to 
charter  changes,  55-56 

Poughkeepaie,  street  railway 
franchise  in,  147 


Preferential  system  of  voting, 

69-71 

Primary  system,  66-69 
Probation  officers,  city,  140 
Proportional  system  of  election, 

71-79 

Protection,  a  reason  for  exist- 
ence of  cities,  4 
Prussia,  cities  of,  10-13 
Publicity     in     city     legislation, 

question  concerning  policy  of, 

117-118 
Public  ownership  in  cities,  144- 

146;   of  telephones,   153;   of 

street  railways,  155 
Public  service  director,   duties 

of,  102-103,  110-114 
Public   utilities,    provisions    of 

Model  Charter  affecting,  62- 

63;    managers    of,    110-114; 

administration    of,     143-144; 

public  ownership  of,  144-146; 

franchises  for,  146-148;  prob- 
lem of  rates,  155-157 
Public  welfare,  department  of, 

141-142 
Purchasing  agent,  the  city,  108- 

110 

Rates,  utility,  155-157 
Recall  of  officials,  81-83 
Recreational      activities,      city, 

140-141 

Referendum,  the,  81,  121-122 
Responsible  executive  type   of 

city  government,  34-37 
Revenues,  municipal,  159-160 

Sacramento,  charter  of,  50-51, 
102;  proportional  system  of 
voting  in,  76,  77;  the  recall 
in,  82;  duties  of  mayor  in, 
93 ;  city  treasurer  in,  97-98 ; 
initiative  and  referendum  in, 
124,  126;  municipal  court  in, 
T39;  public  utility  franchises 
in,  147 ;  "cash  basis"  fund  in, 
168-169 


192 


INDEX 


Schools,  administration  of,  127- 
139 

Seattle,  118-119;  duties  of 
mayor  and  city  manager  in, 
under  proposed  charter,  93- 

94 

Selectmen  in  town  meeting  sys- 
tem, 24 

Sewers,  problem  of,  in  city  ad- 
ministration, 131-133;  local 
assessments  for,  164,  166 

Sheffield,  England,  parliamen- 
tary control  over,  14 

Single-member  district  system 
of  election,  72-73 

Single  tax  theory,  160 

Single  transferable  vote  sys- 
tem, 76 

Spain,  conditions  in  modern,  9 

Spokane,  preferential  system  of 
voting  in,  69,  71 ;  charter  of, 
80;  finances  of,  99-100;  de- 
partmental heads  in,  102 ; 
city  chemist's  work  in,  106; 
price  paid  for  publicity  in, 
117;  fire  department  innova- 
tion in,  136;  charity  commis- 
sion in,  142 ;  local  assessments 
in,  165-166 

Springfield,  Ohio,  charter  of, 
67,  80-81 ;  departmental  heads 
in,  103-104;  emergency  ordi- 
nances, I2O-I2I 

Stevenson,  R.  L.,  on  reform, 
172 

Street-pavement  work  super- 
vised by  city  engineer,  105- 
106 

Street  railways,  franchises  for, 
147;  problems  relating  to, 
I53-I5S;  rates  on,  155-15? 


Streets,    administrative    prob- 
lems connected  with,  129-131 ; 
local  assessments  for,  166-167 
Supplies,  purchasing  of,  108-110 
Suzerainties  in  ancient  cities,  3 

Taxes,  city,  159-161 ;  in  form  of 
licenses,    161-162;    on    fran- 
chises, 162-163;  local  assess- 
ments,  163-167 
Telephone  service,   supervision 

of,  152-153 

Town  clerk,  duties  of,  26 
Town  manager,  office  of,  27 
Town  meeting  system  of  gov- 
ernment in  New  England,  17, 
23-27;  modified  form  of,  in 
New  England  cities,  27 
Transportation,   street,    153-155 
Treasurer,    responsibilities    of, 
96-100 

Utilities.    See  Public  utilities 
Utility  managers,  110-114 

Veto,  popular  use  of  referen- 
dum as  a,  121-122 

Voting,  systems  of,  37,  60,  68- 
69,  76-79 

Warden,  in  borough  form  of 
government,  22 

Wards,  representation  by,  in 
mayor-council  type  of  gov- 
ernment, 30,  32 

Warrant  for  town  meeting,  24 

Water  works,  managers  of,  no, 
in;  city  administration  of, 
148-150 

Webster,  Mass.,  petition  of,  to 
General  Court,  24 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Rarb.ii.i 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


3  1205  00097  0648 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  UBRARY  FACILITY 

^^  rVM...  _...,  ,.,,  ||!|i  iiin  mil  lull  Hill 


I      i  inn  HIII  ii 
A" "001  077  539     3 


